Healing Love
by sa7rah
Summary: Falling in love is difficult.  Falling in love with your best friend as she slowly destroys herself is even more difficult.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: HERE IT IS! The prequel to An Ocean Between You and Me! No, you don't have to read the actual story to read this one but I would appreciate it if you did! **

**The objective of this story isn't only to show how Gabriella and Troy fell in love but also to show how easy it is for a person to fall victim to an eating disorder and how hard it is to detect that you/someone else has an eating disorder. It all seems harmless at the beginning but it's a quick downfall.**

**People seem to disreguard people with eating disorders as crazy and I am attempting to prove that they're normal people and it can happen to anyone. I know from experience. This story is going to expose everyone to not just the physical affects, but the anxiety and the depression. It's going to show how quickly everything happens and how hard it is to come to the realization that you have an eating disorder.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

Gabriella Montez sat in her seventh period Honors Biology class when she felt her cell phone vibrate. It wasn't all that uncommon but she didn't reply to texts in Bio because she sat in the front row and her old male teacher had surprising good eyes for his age. She figured it was probably Troy that had texted her because that was who generally texted her during the school day.

She looked up at the clock on the wall, 2:27, she only had three minutes left until the school day was over and she could enjoy her weekend. It had been an overwhelming day to say the least. Her recent ex-boyfriend had 'hooked up' with some senior and they were now sauntering down the hallways together. It seemed as though their physical relationship had developed further in less than twenty-four hours than hers after more than five months, further lowering her self-esteem.

She slunk down in her chair at the thought of _him. _His name was Jon and as previously mentioned, they had been together for five months. That was, until he dumped her on Tuesday. _He _had pushed her, well attempted to push her, into having sex. She, not being ready, had resisted and he had retorted about her weight. "You know, I could always find someone without love handles." or, her personal favorite, "Maybe if you had a thinner waist you would be better in bed." She had laughed at that one, he was the one who wanted sex not her. As if his insults made her want to have sex with him.

She hadn't told anyone the real reason as to why her and Jon broke up. "Things just weren't working out," had been her excuse. She wasn't going to lie though, his words hurt. Today she had covered up her body in a sweatshirt and jeans, even though it was late May and the weather was warm. She blamed that her lack of interest in her appearance had been because she was upset over the breakup.

She collected her books as she stood up. The school didn't have a bell because it was unreliable. It was always four or five minutes off and all it did was confuse people. So the school had simply gotten rid of it.

As she turned around the corner to her locker, she slid her phone out of her pocket. She stared down at it, it wasn't Troy who had texted her, it was his mom Lucille.

_Gabi! Do you think you could babysit tonight? Troy, Matt, and Jack have practice but my sister went into labor! I want to get to the hospital -Lucille_

Gabriella was always amused at Lucille's text messages. She wrote in complete sentences and always signed her name at the bottom. Maybe she didn't know all cell phones now had caller I.D.

Gabriella didn't have any plans and maybe babysitting her best friend's little brothers would keep her mind off the week she had. She responded with a positive answer to Lucille's text. She would walk over to their house, they lived close to the school.

As she was walking down the sidewalk, she folded her arms across her chest. She found herself doing similar actions unconsciously.

She let herself into the Bolton's house, as she always did. She had only knocked on their front door three of the nine years she had known Troy. "Lucille, I'm here!"

"Gabi! That was fast, thank you so much for coming. You don't know how much this means to me." Lucille hurried down the hallway and hugged her. "Liam will be dropped off from one of his friend's mom any minute now and Mason should get off the school bus at about 3:20."

"Okay, you go. I'll stay as long as you need me. I wish your sister good luck." She replied as Lucille slid her shoes on and went to grab her purse.

"She'll need it. She's got zero pain tolerance. I don't know when I'll be back but the rest of the boys should be home after practice," she added with an after thought, "hopefully. I'm really sorry if I ruined your night honey."

"Don't worry about it, I probably would have ended up over here anyway. Now go." She motioned with her hands for Lucille to leave.

Liam had arrived shortly after Lucille left the house and Mason had arrived about ten minutes after Liam. Mason was finishing up first grade and Liam was enrolled at a 'pre-kindergarten' class at a day care center in the afternoon.

Since they had arrived they had eaten a snack and gone to the playground at the end of their street. The two young boys were a piece of work but Gabriella considered them as her younger brothers. She spent a good majority of her time at Troy's house during her childhood. They had taken her under their wing after her father had been arrested.

"Gabi, can we play a game? PUH-LEASE?" Mason asked overexaggerated.

"I guess that's fine if you both want to." She was slightly exhausted from chasing after them at the park. Her energy was low but she assumed it was because she hadn't ate anything at lunch.

"I want to play choots and ladders." Liam stumbled in his young voice.

"You mean chutes?" Gabriella asked.

"I don't wanna play chutes and ladders Gabi. That is a game for little kids. Let's play Uno!" Mason declared.

"I don't wanna play Uno though Gabi, I don't understand it." Oh boy, she didn't want them to start arguing.

"Well how about you and me play on the same team, Liam?" She tried to make a deal with him before the argument continued.

"Okay." Liam wasn't hard to please, he was only four. As long as he got his sleep and food he was happy.

Gabriella sat down on the floor and crossed her legs. Without asking, Liam plopped his butt down right in the center of her lap and leaned back against her. "Are we going to win Gabi?"

"I don't know Liam, but you know games aren't about winning. Games are about having fun." She had forgotten the testosterone in the house left a competitive atmosphere with almost everything the boys did together.

"But good team work guarantees a win!" Oh god, Liam was so Troy's brother.

"Not everything is about winning, no matter what your daddy or brothers say Liam."

The three had quickly learned the game of Uno! didn't work very well with only two teams. The reverse cards had no purpose anymore. Mason had laid a blue 'five' card and Gabriella didn't have any cards that she could play. As she was drawing cards she heard a voice boom through the house, "Ma! I'm home. Dad and Matt went to check out some comp-" Troy stopped as he saw his brother sitting on his best friends lap.

"Sorry Ella, I tho- Where's my mom?" Troy questioned. It wasn't everyday he walked in his house to see his best friend home without him.

"She's at the hospital, your aunt went into labor and she asked me to babysit." She replied.

"Oh, who's winning?" Troy questioned referring to the game in front of them. He would admit it was one of his favorite games.

"It isn't about winning Troy, it's about having fun. Isn't it boys?" She said with a tone in her voice.

"Oh." Troy caught on, "Can I join in?"

"Yes please, this isn't working very well with two teams." Gabriella attempted to move over a little but was unsuccessful due to the dead weight on her lap.

She didn't have to worry about space on the floor though because when Troy sat down he lightly shoved his younger brother over.

"Troy, be nice," Gabriella lectured.

Troy stuck his tongue out at her in response.

"Oh, real mature Troy. Next year I think you should start kindergarten with Liam again instead of starting eleventh grade. Looks like someone still needs to learn their manners," was Gabriella's hot retort.

They were currently sophomores but school would be out in a week and they would be juniors the next year. She couldn't deny that she loved the fact that majority of the time Troy acted like a little kid.

"Well if you're so smart, what are you doing hanging out with me?" Troy teased.

"Babysitting," she had picked up a few tricks in her years, mostly from Troy.

"Okay, okay. You win," Troy gave up.

Their game had continued and Troy had won, not that it mattered. He continued to pick on his little brothers though. His father had arrived home and was watching the younger boys now. Gabriella and him were in his bedroom and she collapsed onto the bed spread out.

"Long day?" Troy questioned as he moved toward his dresser drawers. Opening the second drawer, he pulled out a shirt. He wanted to change out of the polo he had worn to school that day. He had showered after practice so he didn't smell when he arrived home.

"You have no clue." Gabriella spoke quietly. She rested her head on Troy's extra long striped pillow.

"I wanted to punch that Jon guy so much today Ella. Can you believe him? He's already marching around with some bimbo. I knew he wasn't a good guy." Troy had always had a bad feeling about Jon. He assumed Gabriella was going through her 'bad boy' stage but their relationship had lasted about four months longer than he anticipated it.

"Can we not talk about him right now Troy? I am more than well aware of his new fling." The sad thing was, it was totally believable Jon had moved on already.

"I'm sorry, he's just such a dick I can't believe it." He spoke as he slipped off his polo and slid his t-shirt on. Gabriella had seen him shirtless many times and he assumed she wouldn't care.

Troy had felt a growing attachment to Gabriella in the past few months. He wanted to be with her all the time it seemed. He had become particularly over protective of her since she began dating Jon. He'd never liked him.

Troy turned around to look at her. He could tell she was having a hard time dealing with the breakup. The thing was, she didn't seem sad about him in particular. The wasn't complaining about the breakup or crying. It almost seemed as if there was something else going on.

He sighed and sat down on the edge of his bed and lifted his legs so that he was leaning against the foot board. The hard part of having a female best friend was that they were so emotional. Troy knew her well enough to know when she was upset and when she just needed a hug.

"You know, he didn't deserve you Gabriella. Sometimes independent women scare us teenage boys because they're afraid that they won't be in control," Troy offered his advice as he rubbed her back gently.

"I'll get over him Troy." She commented hesitantly, it wasn't him she was afraid of getting over. It was his abuse she was afraid of getting over.

"I know you will Ella. You are too strong to let a guy bring you down."

She sighed, of course he would say that. It did comfort her that she had someone who cared about her feelings.

"Is your mom home?" He questioned. Maria had been traveling for work a lot lately. She had taken a promotion at her job a few months ago. It was difficult being a single parent and she hoped that she would be able to pay for Gabriella's college. That was why she had taken the job, even though it would mean spending less time at home.

"No, she comes home on Sunday," Gabriella didn't like staying home alone. She had actually spent quite a few nights at the Bolton household while her mother was gone. She knew she had a collection of clean clothes in Troy's dresser.

"Stay here tonight Ella. You'll feel a lot better here than you will at home." Troy offered.

"I don't want to intrude," she argued and Troy laughed.

"Ella, you are most definitely not intruding. You are practically part of the family you spend so much time here." Gabriella sat up as he was speaking.

"Okay then. As long as it's fine with your parents." Gabriella felt like she slept over at Troy's house more now than she had when they were little kids. The guest bedroom might as well have 'Gabriella' written on the front.

"Ella, they won't care. You know that. You are always welcomed here." Gabriella felt assured that she always had somewhere to go where she would be welcomed with open arms. "Are you hungry?"

She was hungry but the thought of food made her sick. She couldn't describe the feeling, even though she hadn't eaten since this morning there seemed to be a knot in her throat that if it were to be untangled, the acid in her stomach would quickly rise up her throat. "No, I had a pretty big snack with your brothers."

"Okay, I'm going to have Dad order a pizza now." It wasn't often Troy referred to his father as 'dad.' His brother and him were constantly surrounded by their team mates who referred to their dad as coach and the nickname had stuck around the house. "You have some clothes in my dresser if you want to change while I'm out."

"Okay." Gabriella walked to Troy's dresser. There were two in the room, one was Matt's. Troy and Matt shared a room and Liam and Mason shared another. Neither thought it was that big of a deal that they shared the room. If one was occupying it with friends, the other would resort to the basement. It was one of the many unwritten rules of the Bolton household.

She yanked open the drawer and shuffled some clothes around. Blushing, she noticed something she would rather Troy not have in his dresser. Pulling it out, she recognized her black bra and suddenly hoped that Troy didn't do his own laundry or look too deeply through the clothing his mother placed in his drawers. She would have to figure out a way to sneak the bra out of Troy's house. She didn't remember leaving it at his house but she probably had left it in the hamper in a rush before she left for school.

Gabriella pulled out a pair of athletic shorts and one of Troy's wildcat sweatshirts. She had her own collection of shirts and sweatshirts at her own house. However it was a lot smaller than Troy's collection of her own clothes. Most of his clothing articles at her house were from winter when she had barrowed a sweatshirt to stay warm in the cool air. Crossing to the door, she clicked the lock. You never knew who would walk in on you changing.

When Troy returned she unlocked the door for him to enter. "Do you want to go downstairs and watch some TV?"

"Sure," was her simple reply. Troy and Matt weren't allowed to have a television in their room. They had begged for one growing up but their parent's reply was always the same, 'There's something seriously wrong with your life when you resort to entertaining yourself by watching TV in your bedroom.' It wasn't until a few years ago they had understood the hidden meaning.

* * *

The next morning Gabriella woke up buried under soft covers. What she last remembered from last night was lounging on the couch watching _Friends _with Troy. As much as he denied it, he loved the show. It no longer took that much of a fight before Troy caved into her. He always was the first to cave. Troy must have carried her upstairs after she fell asleep on the couch. It was no longer Jack's job to transport her sleeping figure, it was Troy's.

She stretched as she climbed out of bed. There was a body length mirror in the corner of the room that she walked over to, fully intending to simply see if her makeup was smeared.

Her mascara was fine but the full length mirror brought attention to her legs. Looking over her petite figure, she couldn't help but notice the looseness in her thighs. The only sport she played was soccer yet she was good at the sport. She worked hard and ran a lot, which in the off season resulted in 'soccer thighs.' The developed muscle had gotten weaker without the consistent training and she was left with loose thighs. In her mind it was becoming less and less attractive as the days went on.

Lifting up the bottom of her sweatshirt, she examined the width of her hips. She wasn't fat but she couldn't ignore the slight muffin top the peaked over the waistband of her panties that were exposed at the top where her shorts had ridden down.

Maybe it wouldn't hurt to loose a few pounds. She had never been insecure about her body but she was just going to eat healthier and work out more to improve her health. That's all it was. Improving her health.

She could smell something down the hall. It was around eleven o'clock, prime meal time. It was the distinct smell of hot pancakes, probably chocolate chip. She was greeted by three shirtless men, Troy, Matt and little Liam who had spilled on his shirt. Matt and Troy however always walked around shirtless in the morning.

"Morning sleepy head." Troy spoke when he saw her walk into the kitchen.

"What are you two doing up so early?" If she remembered correctly Matt had gone to a party last night while Troy and her stayed in.

"You should know them better by now Gabi. The food woke up the bottomless pits." Jack replied for his sons as he himself stuffed a fork full of food in his mouth.

Troy stood up from the long center island and hugged her. She rested her forehead against his naked chest and couldn't help but feel the way her heart began to beat faster. She couldn't deny- her best friend was hot. Not just hot, he was hawt, hott, hotttt, or whatever other way people described the hotness of someone on line.

He was built, every part of his body was toned with muscle. From his calves, to his abs, to his biceps, every single part of his body screamed hotness.

"Do you want a pancake Gabriella?" Lucille questioned her.

She let go of Troy, who knew she hadn't ate the night before. She hesitated, Troy knew she hadn't ate since last night and would no doubt call her out if she didn't eat a pancake.

"Sure. Thanks Lucille." She sat down next to Troy and Matt at the counter. She rationed in her brain that the pancakes would have twice as many calories if she added syrup. If she ate a pancake this morning then she wouldn't have to eat lunch because it was so close to the afternoon. Then she could have a snack, maybe some grapes or watermelon, largely water concentrated fruit. That would have to suffice for the day.

Soon enough her soccer thighs and her muffin top would be gone. It wasn't going to be that hard, was it?


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Why, hello my lovely readers! Do you know how much I love you? Because I do! A lot!**

**This is really just a filler chapter. Setting up the scene for the story ahead but you will get a glimpse inside Troy+Ella's relationship. And yes, Gabriella's developing eating disorder is going to get dark and she is going to do anything to hide it. Like I said, I know how this stuff goes and it's _not_ something to be taken lightly.**

**If you know anyone who has or you suspect has an eating disorder, please help them get help. It's always nice to know someone cares.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

Gabriella had spent Saturday at the Bolton household but left that night to go to her own house. As much as she loved spending time with Troy's family she needed a break from the craziness. She was unusually tired but assumed it was because she was stressed out.

Her birthday was later this week and it was also the final week of school, which also meant that finals were approaching. It was currently two thirty in the afternoon and she had decided to stay in for the day. Tomorrow she would have to go back to school and study despite the anxiousness for summer.

She could faintly hear her garage door open. That was strange, her mother wasn't supposed to be home until after nine that night. She stood up in her sweatpants and walked through the house toward her front door. Looking outside, she noticed Troy's truck in her driveway. Knowing that it was safe, she exited the house.

"What are you doing Troy?" She yelled from her front step.

"I came to check on your car. Remember, you told me it wasn't starting." Troy made his way up her steps.

"You don't have to Troy, someone is going to look at it later this week." She looked him over in his red basketball shorts and black t-shirt.

"They're rip offs Ella. Why would you pay someone to fix your car when you have a lovely best friend who will fix it for free?" Troy questioned as he leaned against a pillar.

"Because my best friend is sixteen," she wasn't really wary of Troy fixing her car.

"Well, your best friend has pretty much built his own car and has plenty of experience. I hear he's also very trustworthy."

"Do you want a bottle of water or anything before you start? It's kind of hot out." She could already begin to feel the heat of the sun. Summer was approaching and so was the unbearable heat.

"Sure Ella. I need your keys too." He mentioned as he followed her into her house.

"They're in my purse, it's on the chair in the dining room," she continued to pull out a bottle of water and a bowl of watermelon. If she could get Troy to finish it off her mother wouldn't question why she hadn't finished the rest while she had been gone.

"Ooh, watermelon," of course Troy was hungry, "You want some?"

"No, I just had some." She did have some, two pieces. She didn't mention that's all she had eaten that day.

He ate a few pieces and announced, "Okay, I have to go work on your car now but I'll be back for more later, okay?"

"That's fine Troy." She watched his butt as he left the kitchen. He got cuter and cuter everyday.

She settled back down on the couch with her history textbook. The more notes she could get done today, the less she would have to get done that week. After all, her birthday was in a few days. She would be sixteen, however she was allowed to get her license when she was fifteen which put a damper on the whole 'sweet sixteen' thing. She would probably just have dinner with her mother, or Troy maybe. She wasn't a big party girl.

The days seemed to be getting longer and she was dreading school more and more. Gabriella felt as though everyone was staring at her. Her breakup was this week's most talked about topic of gossip and would probably be what everyone would remember about her at the beginning of the new school year in a few months.

All she wanted to do was lay around and watch movies with her best friend, the only person who seemed to actually care about her feelings. Even if it seemed as though they could never be more than friends, it was nice to know someone cared.

Her friendship with Troy was something that baffled everyone. She, nor anyone else, had no clue as to how they had remained friends since kindergarten. He had stood up for her after Troy's brother had called her a baby. It ended up that they were in the same class and Troy said she was pretty.

The two had made it through the elementary cooties and middle school puberty. Their peers had made fun of them slightly because it never seemed that girls and boys could be friends, much less best friends. Gabriella didn't think that there was anyone out there like Troy, he was the perfect gentleman as his mother had raised him to be. Troy had been there to pick up the pieces of her life. He was always concerned for her, as was his family. Troy's family had been at her house the night her father had been arrested and ever since it was almost as though the family had adopted her, especially now that her mother was beginning to travel for work.

Their relationship continued to strike people as odd. They two were inseparable, one of the reasons her boyfriend had dumped her. They walked to class together, they ate together, and on Wednesday mornings they ran together. It was their thing, and no one would dare to try and ruin it.

Troy was every woman's perfect man. At school, he seemed to put up a front. He was the tough, popular, masculine, large-muscled, jock. If you knew anything about Troy Bolton though, you would know that he was a major sweetheart. Anyone could tell, just by looking at his relationship with Gabriella, that he knew how to treat a woman. He didn't mind doing favors for her and remembered everything about her.

That explains why he would come over and fix her car. He would rather fix it himself, knowing that she would be appreciative, than let some random person they didn't know fix it. He didn't trust just anyone with her feelings or belongings, he had already seen her hurt and made it his job to prevent further pain.

Gabriella could never tell Troy about what had happened between herself and Jon. She didn't know what he would do if he found out. Probably something that would result in him getting suspended.

At this point she realized her studying could not continued and decided to go outside and check on Troy. It couldn't hurt, he had a fine body.

Stepping outside she saw him hunched over her car with his tool box resting on the edge. His shirt was off and his back was glistening with sweat underneath the late afternoon sunshine. If she had a penny for every time she caught Troy with his shirt off she would be a very rich person.

As she leaned against his truck that was parked adjacent to her own car she spoke, startling him and almost forced him to hit his head on the open hood, "How bad is it?"

"Give a guy a warning, why don't you?" he took a second to let the shock wash over him before answering her question, "It's not too bad, just needed some wiring. You need an oil change, I can do that for you too."

"Really?" She had never seen him in his element of car fixing. Troy and his father had worked on fixing Troy's truck for a few years now and he'd taking a shop class but she had no clue as to what his talents added up too.

"Would I lie to you Ella?" he questioned her in return. "Never doubt the talents of Troy Bolton. Have you learned nothing the past ten years?"

Gabriella giggled as he flipped his hair out of his face. "I guess not. In all fairness you never told me you could do an oil change or seriously fix anything in a car."

"I practically built that thing Ella. Of course I know how to change oil," he nodded toward the blue truck she was leaning against.

"Okay, whatever you say."

"What time are you eating at?" Troy pondered. It was nearing six in the evening.

"Oh, uh, I don't know," truthfully she was caught off guard, she hadn't planned on eating that night. "Mom won't be home until late so I thought I'd just have some leftovers or something,"

"Okay, I'll be finished in an hour hopefully. So don't worry, I'll be out of your hair soon," he backed away from the car to grab supplies from the bed of his pickup.

"Don't rush Troy. I can always make you a grilled cheese or something if you miss dinner," she gently scolded him. No matter how hypocritical it seemed, he was a growing man and needed the nutrients provided from food.

"It's fine, I'll call mom and tell her to save me some food. I can warm it up when I get home," he spoke as he stuck his head back under the hood of the compact car.

"Okay, let me call her though. I'll sweet talk her into having it warmed up when you get home," under normal circumstances Troy would have to heat up his own food when he missed dinner.

"Mom and dad like you way too much. It's like you're their favorite child without even being their own kid. I hate how you don't even live at my house and you manage to bend all the rules," it was true, Lucille and Jack seemed to forgive Troy easier when Gabriella was around. If he was out past curfew but brought Gabriella to his house, his parents didn't care. No girls 'allowed' upstairs, except Gabriella.

"You shouldn't be complaining, I've gotten you out of being grounded so many times before Bolton. If you're just going to stand there and bitch to me about how your parents like me the best than maybe I'll just stop getting you out of trouble. Next time Matt is out after curfew, I'll come to his rescue," she teased.

"Wait, wait a second," he paused, "what did you just say?"

"What do you mean? I just told you to stop complaining," she scrunched her eyebrows together in confusion.

"Did _the _Gabriella Montez just swear? For the fourth time in her life? Or am I going deaf?" he held his hands up to his ear.

"Haha very funny Bolton," it wasn't often she swore, and always in privacy. Generally with Troy. She thought that she could express her vocabulary in a less crude way. After all, she had a reputation to uphold. "I'm leaving now!"

She spun around to walk back into her house as she heard him chuckle. She got anxious when Troy teased her about her innocence. That was one of the many qualities he appreciated about her. It was nice to see someone in the school who felt that demanded the respect of others.

She was a smart, independent woman who didn't need to rely on anyone. She looked good without showing as much of her body as possible.

He turned to watch her walk away from him. Underneath the baggy sweatpants he could imagine her toned legs and the curve of her ass. She would probably slap him for staring at her ass, but she wasn't looking right now. Since they were best friends, he had the opportunity to see more of her body than she would be comfortable with anyone else seeing and despite their close friendship he was still the hormone crazed horny teenaged boy.

As he finished up his work, he joined Gabriella inside the house to inform her he was leaving. He gave her one last hug goodbye before grabbing a bottled water on his way out of the house.

The school days went by, finals kicked their asses and before they knew it, it was Troy and Gabriella's second to last day of school.

* * *

Like every Wednesday, Troy showed up at her house at six sharp for their weekly morning jog. It was something they did all year to stay connected between games and homework. They went out for a half hour, without listening to music, and let the dewy morning air blow in their faces.

Everything was so quiet in the morning. Most people were just waking up as they left and the sun was rising. The morning sun reflected off the red rocks brilliantly and the serenity calmed both of them.

Neither could deny the feeling afterward. The so called 'runner's high' affected both of them. Pushing one's body to finish the final stretch released endorphins that kept them in a good peace of mind all day.

Troy parked his truck at Gabriella's and brought clothes to change into. Gabriella would shower first and while she was getting ready Troy would take over. They would typically be in a rush to arrive at school on time so they grabbed an apple or some thing else as simple to eat on the way.

This Wednesday morning was the same as any, but more pressured. They would finish the last of their finals today and tomorrow would be the final half day of school.

"Are you coming to the bonfire Friday? It's going to be at my place, mom, dad, and the boys are going to Santa Fe for some sort of convention." Every year they had the annual end of the school year homework burning bonfire. The concept was simple, save all your homework and burn it at the end of the year.

"Sure, I'll come." She responded while sitting in front of the full-length mirror in the corner of the room. She stood up as she finished applying the last of her makeup to see Troy standing near her door rubbing his damp hair in a towel, shirtless. Another penny for herself she thought.

"What are you doing tomorrow? Any special sweet sixteen plans?" He knew that her mother was scheduled to be at a meeting late tomorrow evening. Her mother had called his to see if they could maybe have Gabriella over and surprise her with a cake or something to celebrate her birthday.

When his mother told him, he decided that he would take Gabriella to see a movie and then they would go home, have cake and ice cream, and watch old movies. It was the least he could do, as much as he loved Maria he hated how lately it seemed as though she was neglecting Gabriella.

"No, Mom's working late," Troy could hear the pain in her voice at her statement. Her nights spent at Troy's house had increased drastically the past few months. As independent as she was, she wasn't ready to be living on her own yet and her mother hadn't seemed to realize that fact yet.

"We should go see a movie or something. My mom said that you can come over for dinner and she was going to make a cake," Gabriella felt her chest tighten at his words.

There was no way she could get out of eating at the Bolton's tomorrow night. She would just have to fast more the following days.

She was getting used to the empty feeling in her stomach. At first she'd been hungry and her stomach growled at inappropriate times. However, she felt stronger as she gained resistance to food. Her body, although not fully, was adapting to the change of eating patterns and she was beginning to feel a high off her lack of food. At first when she had ate something, it felt good and she had craved more. Now, the emptiness in her stomach pushed her to eat less. The starvation felt good and she pushed the feeling to last. For the first time in her life, the feeling of being empty was more satisfying than being fulfilled.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Well, I'm officially home. It took a few days to wait out the storm at home while I was in L.A. There was 19 inches of snow, one hell of a welcome home eh? (Haha, that's one of my stories names)**

**If you have never read Speak, I highly recommend it, especially if you enjoy this story. It is a fabulous book, my personal favorite.**

**So, my reviewers, YOU JUST KEEP GETTING MORE AND MORE FABULOUS EVERY SINGLE WEEK! I love you so much, thanks for taking to the time to reflect on my story!**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing**

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Troy Bolton woke up to the shove of his older brother, "Wake up bro, it's my last day of high school."

Troy rolled his eyes, "Three months closer to getting my own room."

Today was the last day of school, which also correlated with Gabriella's birthday. The half-day would be spent acquiring and signing yearbooks, returning large textbooks to the library, and tear shedding, for the seniors.

"You know you're going to miss me," Matt teased as he walked out of the room toward the bathroom down the hall.

Matt would be leaving for college after the summer, albeit not really leaving. Undoubtedly, he would be home every weekend so that their mom could wash his clothes. The University of Albuquerque was within a ten-minute driving distance from their childhood home.

Even though his brother would be out partying tonight, Troy was much more interested in helping his best friend celebrate her birthday. His relationship with Gabriella was picked on by his older brother. His brother teased him about being 'whipped' without even being in a relationship.

Troy had been denying recent feelings he had for Gabriella, at first because she had a boyfriend and more recently because she had a broken heart.

As much as she would deny it, he could tell she wasn't okay with her recent breakup. He could tell, simply by the way she was denying her hurt and her slight ignoration of himself. She needed some time to heal and he didn't blame her, Jon was a dick. He still couldn't believe she had lasted more than two days with the guy. He treated girls like shit and believed their true place was the kitchen.

Unlike Jon, he appreciated independent women. He felt that it brought extra sexiness to a girl who had a plan and knew what she was going to do with her life. Maybe it was just Gabriella that made him think that.

Since becoming a teenager and going through puberty he was beginning to feel that their relationship was less than normal. It was getting to the point where he would rather stay in and watch a movie with his best friend then go out to parties. Puberty had also lead him to the realization that his best friend was hot. Her curvy Latino body seemed to continue developing further and further into their high school careers. He liked to deny the attraction he had to her body because if she ever found out about his dirty thoughts he'd be in deep shit.

Instead of taking her to the movies as he planned, his mother had left them two tickets to go see a production of _Billy Elliot_ downtown. They were planning to have an early dinner so that they could make it on time to the eight o'clock musical.

As he moved through his morning routine, he began to search for his pair of khaki shorts. He searched his closet and the top two drawers of his dresser. He wasn't sure what prompted him to open the third drawer that was almost never used but he continued with his desperate search, not wanting to be late for his last day of school. As he opened the drawer, he noticed Gabriella's clothes where they were always located. Searching through he noticed a black bra buried beneath various sweatshirts and t-shirts. Lifting it out he noticed the sexy lace band and smooth cups that he could not picture his best friend owning. Hearing the door click open he shoved it back under the pile of clothing and turned to see his brother, standing in the doorway wearing his shorts.

Shrugging it off, he decided not to create an argument with his brother this early in the morning. It was better to just let it slide at this point and wear a different pair of pants.

"Not wearing pants today bro?" Matt questioned looking at Troy with a questionable look on his face.

Troy realized he probably looked ridiculous in his clashing plaid boxer shorts and striped t-shirt. Deciding to slide on his pants, he returned down the path his brother had just walked down to brush his teeth. Looking in the mirror, he messed his hair a little before leaving for school. Today was the last day he would be looked at as Matt's little brother. After today he could hopefully make a name for himself at school.

* * *

Gabriella Montez sat digging her feet in the light sand at a park located near Troy's house. When they were younger, they frequented the park at least once a week. She took a deep breath as she let a tear slide down her face. The park was vacant, it was exhausted with age and a newer larger park had been built that the kids played at now.

She was sitting on a swing that creaked with movement. She was drawing light patterns with her feet. There were numerous reasons as to why she was sitting in the park crying before a looming thunderstorm. The last day of school had made her realize she didn't have much time left at home. Only two more years and she would be leaving home for college. The pressures of life on your own would be set, more likely dropped, on top of her shoulders for her to balance out.

Her mother seemed to be neglecting her, leaving her to deal with pain by herself. She loved her mom and that was why she was so upset. They were so close, Gabriella and her mother shared everything and now the distance was pulling them further and further apart, physically and emotionally.

And then there was Jon. The man who dumped her because she wouldn't have sex with him. The man who criticized her body and made her feel like shit. The man, actually boy, who moved on two days after their break up. She lost the little respect she had for him.

She was crying at who she was becoming. She was becoming a lonely obsessive teenager. Her body ached from the lack of food, yet she could not eat. It hadn't even been a week since she began her diet yet it was taking over her life. She wasn't going to admit she had a problem, because she didn't have one. She was smart, she was loosing weight quickly in a smart way.

As Gabriella wrapped her arms around her body, she could feel the tightness of her stomach. When she inhaled her ribs stuck out slightly. It was fine though, the most weight you would loose while dieting was generally within the first week. After this it would be more gradual, she tried to convince herself.

The part that scared her the most was that she knew she wouldn't be able to stop.

Gabriella felt her phone buzzing from the back pocket of her jeans. Sliding it out, she saw Troy's number flashing. He was the only person she could trust right now. She had friends but no one even came close to matching the trust she held with Troy.

"Hey Troy," she sniffled slightly answering the phone. She tried to cover up her crying pattern.

"What are you doing? I wanted to know what time I should come get you," Troy's firm voice responded.

"I'll just walk over, I'm at the park actually," she stood up and walked to slide her flip flops back on.

"Why are you at the park? I'll come meet you half way," she could almost see Troy's eyebrows furrowing at her last statement.

"I was just clearing my brain and don't worry about it, it's only five minutes," she really just wanted some time for her blotchy face to clear up.

"No Ella! I'm not going to let you be alone on your birthday. I'll meet you half way," with that she heard the dial tone after he hung up.

She sighed and began to trudge up the street. By walking slowly she might be able to gain some time. Although it clearly wouldn't be much because Troy would just walk until they meet up.

She stared at the ground as she continued forward. The heat and humidity of the approaching storm was making her sweat and she felt a little light headed. She blamed it in her head as dehydration. She felt a bead of sweat drift down her face knowing she was getting closer and closer to Troy. It was making her feel worse and what she needed was Troy to wrap his arms around her. She needed someone, anyone that cared. Nobody seemed to care anymore except for Troy. As much as she was trying to put up a front to seem strong, if there was anyone she was going to admit she had a problem to, it was Troy.

She didn't think she could feel more relieved when she was able to make out Troy's figure. He was always there to catch her when she fell. Even if he wasn't aware something was wrong, his presence simply made her feel better.

As she got within distance, she knew that he knew she had been crying. There was one of those unspoken moments where Troy just opened his arms for her to wrap herself in. "Ella, what's up?" He stroked her hair gently.

"I think I'm sick," she closed her eyes as she felt the light headed feeling turn into a headache.

"Let's get home before it starts raining then Ella, do you think you can make it?" His concern was growing largely.

She gently nodded her head and pulled back from his arms. Gaining some confidence, she returned in the direction of his house. The sooner they got there, the sooner she could lay down.

Troy wrapped his arm around his best friend in comfort. He could tell her emotional instability was beginning to take a toll on her physical health. "Are you okay?"

"A little light headed. I probably just need some water and to sit down for a while," she really would try to shrug this off as much as possible. The more excuses she could pull the better.

The looming clouds began to darken and you could see the rain over the mountainous land formations. Troy unlocked the door to his house when they arrived. None of his family was home, a rare occasion. His parents had taken the younger boys to soccer and would likely be home soon due to the weather. It was fairly late in the year for rain and thunderstorms.

Gabriella went to settle on the couch and Troy went to the kitchen to get her a glass of water. She took a few breaths through her nose as she felt the air conditioning raise goose bumps on her arms at the contact. "Do you want some advil?"

"Yes please," she spoke quietly. Her stomach was beginning to feel like acid, yet there was nothing for her to throw up.

"Here," he sat down next to her body. Her face was pale. She sat up slightly to swallow the pill with some water. Hopefully it would help a little. "Do you want to go into my room? It's probably more comfortable than the couch."

"Sure," she replied, but before she could stand, she felt her body being lifted. She was not expecting to get picked up.

After Troy set her down in the bed, she pulled the sheets over her body. What a great way to spend her birthday.

Troy gently crawled next to her on the bed. Sitting perpendicular to her, he crossed his legs, sitting near her head. "What's up Ella?"

"Troy," she warned, not wanting to talk at the moment.

"Ella, you were crying. I can tell, tell me what's wrong," he rested his hand palm up on her forehead to test her temperature. His mother insisted the best way to check for a fever was actually a kiss on the forehead. That way you could decipher whether it was just sweat or an actual fever.

"I'm just overwhelmed," she curled her body tighter within the confinement of the sheets, "It's been a crazy two weeks Troy."

"I didn't think you would let if affect you this much though. I didn't know you liked him so much," Troy sighed as he saw her turn her back to him.

"I don't want to talk about it Troy," she wasn't going to let her ex's words take over her life. Although the amount of time she wasted thinking about him was increasing everyday.

"Fine, but you can't hold everything in," Troy didn't speak with just anyone this deeply. With anyone else he'd shrug it off but he'd begun to notice how Gabriella was attempting to block her feeling from him. At school she put up a brave face but he could see the way her eyes glared when Jon walked by with another girl. The only indication she'd given to know she was aware of what Troy knew was the slight smile she'd given him when he saved her from an encounter with Jon. The guy had nerve but Troy had beaten him to Gabriella's locker and he'd swiftly walked her toward her next class.

"I'm not holding anything Troy, I told you I'm just overwhelmed," her day was beginning to worsen it seemed.

"Okay, okay. I'm sorry," Troy defended against himself. He knew better than to piss of girls, especially on their birthdays. Deciding to switch the topic, he walked into his closet and shifted a few things around from the floor before picking up an atrociously wrapped purple package. Now was as good a time as ever for her to open her present. He gently set it down, letting it's weight sink into his comforter, "Here, open it."

Leaning up on her elbows, she accepted his present as a peace offering. "Thanks," she smiled up in appreciation.

She laughed at the wrapping job he'd done. The paper was about three times longer than it needed to be and it looked like he'd placed tape everywhere it didn't need to be. She dug her finger in the crack and watched as it ripped open slowly. The box was slightly larger than the average shoe box and she could her multiple things slide back and forth in the box.

She pulled out two books from the package, the first being _Little Women _by Louisa May Alcott. Her favorite classic. She had read the book numerous times but never acquired her own copy. The second was one she had never read before but was interested in, _Speak _by Laurie Halse Anderson. The book told the tragic tale of a high school girl who struggled through her first year of high school after calling the cops on a party in an emergency situation. She would admittedly call herself a bookworm and adored almost every book she read. She wasn't picky.

Nodding her head in appreciation, she continued. Next she pulled out Go Radio's new CD _Do Overs and Second Chances. _Gabriella had been obsessed with one of their songs and she was excited to check out the rest of their music.

"Thank you so much Troy, I love it," she commented shifting the new items in her hands. She was happy to know someone cared about her enough to spend her birthday with them.

"Oh, there's one more part," Troy jumped up from the side of the bed to head into the kitchen. He grabbed the tickets to the musical his mom had left for them. Walking in the room, he fanned out the tickets for Gabriella to see.

"What is it?" She squinted her eyes, yet it was too far for her to see the specifics on the tickets.

"Mom had some extra tickets for Billy Elliot tonight. I thought we could go?" He questioned her more than informed.

"No way! I wanted to go with mom but she couldn't get tickets. How'd you know?" She gasped in excitement.

"Well, your mom told my mom who happened to pull some strings with the tickets," he mentioned the lengthy process his mother had gone through to get the tickets.

"Are you going to sit through the whole thing without complaining," she questioned glaring her eyes into his blue orbs.

"No guarantees, a few snide remarks might slip, but since it's your birthday I'll try my best," he smiled knowing he had made his friend happy, "Now come over here and give me a hug."

Gabriella grinned and reached her arms out to wrap around his neck. She felt his arms wrap around her waist as he whispered in her ear, "Happy Birthday Ella."

Then, she shrieked as Troy suddenly fell backwards onto his back. Gabriella slapped him on the shoulder as the tone in the room shifted. Any partial argument was forgotten about when Gabriella reached over to grab a pillow and shoved it in Troy's face.

"Oh no, you're on my list now," he flipped Gabriella over him and shoved a pillow in her face in return.

After taunting her for a few seconds, he removed the pillow from her face and smiled innocently at her.

"Don't you dare try and act innocent Bolton," she flicked his side feeling his newly formed abs through his thin shirt.

"What are you going to do about it Montez? Flick my abs of steel?" he ran his hand over his chest. He took any opportunity to show the product of his hard work.

"I know all your secrets Bolton," despite the threat, Troy didn't have many secrets. Especially compared to herself. Troy knew the majority of her secrets but they were just things she would rather keep to herself to avoid unwanted attention.

"Right, and who are you going to tell them to? It's summer," he took a breath to calm himself down after their laughter.

"Your mom," she teased.

"Ooh, I'll have to watch what I say from now on," as he spoke both jumped, startled by the crack of thunder they heard from outside.

Gabriella rested her hand on her chest after the shock, "Oh my god, that scared me."

"Me too," Troy agreed. Neither were exactly scared of thunderstorms, but neither really liked them either. The storms were pretty harmless in Albuquerque and tornadoes were a very low threat. Gabriella stood from the bed to take a look out the window. She gripped the edge of the windowsill as she observed the dark greenish black sky. Rain was pouring down and hitting the window at an angle. A flash of lightning struck and she decided to back away from the window.

"Is it bad?" Troy questioned, worry evident on his face.

"Just a normal thunderstorm. Nothing too bad," she walked around his dresser and dragged her fingertips along the top, "When is everyone coming home?"

"Mom and Dad should be home soon, there's no way Liam and Mason are playing in this weather," it was nearing three in the afternoon and they would probably be eating in two and a half hours, "Mom wanted to get a head start on dinner too."

Just as she had began to forget about food, it was brought up again. Troy seemed to be the only who could make her forget but he wouldn't know not to discuss the topic unless she talked to him about it.

"Let's go do something Troy. Claim the basement before, or if, Matt gets here," she walked out of his room and down the hall before he got the chance to respond.

* * *

"Happy Birthday Gabi!" She heard the shout of Troy's younger brothers as Troy and her walked up the stairs after being called up for dinner. This would probably be her second substantial meal of the week and her stomach ached at the thought of eating.

"Aww, thank you guys," she bent down to hug the two boys she would consider to be her younger brothers. "You guys just get cuter and cuter everyday, don't you?"

"We are not _cute _Gabi," Liam scolded.

"Yeah, we're handsome," Mason finished explaining.

"Well I'm very sorry. It was a silly mistake," she grinned at the boys she'd watched grow up before her very eyes. As she continued further in the kitchen, the smell made her stomach twist even further.

"Happy Birthday sweetie," Troy's mother commented at her sight while bending over to remove the baked Macaroni and Cheese from the oven, "I'm sorry Matt didn't show up. He's probably partying it up."

Gabriella noticed the slight eye role Lucille gave, "It's fine. Troy's my best friend, not Matt." Gabriella and Matt had a rocky relationship at the beginning of their friendship but it had developed to be more of a brother/sister relationship.

"Gabster! Happy Birthday," yet another Bolton, Jack, entered the room. He swallowed her in a hug. Jack had taken her under his wing after her father had been arrested, he was the closest she had to a father figure.

"Well, aren't I popular today?" she squeaked out from under Jack's protective arms. He was almost as strong as Troy was.

"Well you are the birthday girl," Jack replied at her unwanting attention.

"Come and dish up guys, no standing around," Troy, commonly referred to as the bottomless pig by his parents, demanded.

"Fine, fine," Jack mumbled, "Demanding sons. We should have had a daughter, I mean, look at Gabi. Her world doesn't revolve around food."

She remained commentless after Jack's words. The thing was, her world was beginning to revolve around food but in a different way than Troy's.

As she looked at the food she was about to consume, she began to mentally divide the portions. A small scoop of Macaroni and Cheese but she'd only eat a half of it. A few carrots, she'd eat two. Fruit was what she'd eat the most of, they were more healthy. Then there was the cake, she hadn't figured that one out yet.

When she sat down at the table, she waited for everyone else to begin eating. Everyone was doing fine, eating as normal. She was beginning to feel light headed again. Gabriella decided that she could buy time by standing up to fill her glass with water.

Opening the freezer to get some ice, she let the cool air wash over her body. When she filled up her glass with water, she gripped the edge of the sink tightly. She turned around to see Troy looking at her with concern. Taking slow steps, she inched toward the table. Sitting down, she shakily picked up her fork to begin eating with Troy's eyes watching her carefully. It took her a while to allow her fork to make it to her mouth and when it did she reluctantly allowed the few pieces of macaroni in her mouth.

She slowly chewed the food, over and over and over. When it became mush in her mouth, she attempted to swallow the processed food. It hit the back of her throat and she felt her gag reflex kick in.

She raised her hand to her mouth to prevent a disaster happening at dinner. No one but Troy had seemed to notice her actions until she gagged. She felt Troy place his hand on her back and he gently rubbed up and down, "You okay?"

"I, yeah, um, can I be excused," she stated rather than asked. Before waiting for a response, she stood up and walked down the hallway to the bathroom. Gabriella kneeled in front of the toilet and let her head rest backward. She took a deep breath to calm herself. An overwhelming sensation hit her and she gripped the edge of the toilet with strength. She was not going to make herself throw up. She was too strong for that.

Gabriella heard a knock at the door, "Ella, are you okay? Can I come in?"

"I-I guess so," she felt weak from resisting the urge to purge.

Troy knelt beside her and began to rub her back. He noticed the empty toilet bowl and took that as a good sign, "Are you okay?"

"I just feel light-headed again. I think I'm a little dehydrated," she excused herself again. Shifting away from the toilet, she let her back rest against the cabinets behind them.

"Can I get you anything? Water? Another advil? Or do you want to go and lay down?" Troy was concerned now. She was obviously not okay.

"A glass of water sounds good and I think I'll lay down for a while," she moved to get up and felt Troy jump up before she could stand.

Troy stuck his hand out to help her up. Wrapping his arm around her lower back, he helped her back to his room, "I'll go get you some water."

He left the room and she found herself in the same position she'd been in earlier. She let her head relax against the soft pillows. She felt bad, the Bolton's had worked to give her a decent birthday and she was sick now.

"Mom said not to worry Ella," he set the glass down on the bedside table.

"Are we still going to the musical?"

"Ella, I don't know," he really didn't want to take her if she was feeling so crappy.

"Please Troy?" She used the puppy dog eyes on him. The eyes no one could resist.

"You rest while everyone finishes eating and we'll see how you're feeling," he made no guarantee.

"Fine," that was the farthest she could push him at the moment.

* * *

Troy had caved and allowed the pair to go. Gabriella had been fine after her rest and right now was bouncing off the walls with excitement.

"That was _so _good Troy! I'm totally going to New York City just so I can see Broadway plays and musicals," she bounced in her seat.

Troy was still grumbling at the fact that he'd had to sit through the whole musical. He really didn't understand how she could be so excited over a musical. Then again, she had no clue how he could get so worked up about a basketball game.

What Troy really didn't know was how she had made two miraculous recoveries today. Gabriella had been so weak in her moments and she was just fine afterwards. No signs of sickness, nothing.

"Come on, it wasn't that bad Troy," she grinned at him as they walked toward her front door.

"Okay, fine, it wasn't _that _bad," he spoke truthfully. It wasn't horrible.

"Ha! So you admit it, you liked it," she assumed while opening the front door with her key.

"I didn't say I liked it, I said it wasn't that bad," he stepped into the empty dark house. Flipping on the switch, he mad up his mind that he didn't like her staying home alone as often as she did. "You should just sleep at my house tonight Ella."

"Troy, I've slept at your house way too many times recently. I'll be fine," she put on her all too common fake smile. The fake smile Troy could see right through.

"Ella, really. It's fine, let's go," he knew she wouldn't budge, no matter how much he pushed the matter.

"No, I'll be fine Troy. I promise," she was suggesting that he leave now. It was late and she didn't want him driving home tired.

"Let me stay here then Ella. You've been home alone way to much recently," it wasn't that he didn't think she was safe, it was more the matter of loneliness.

"Troy, I promise I will call if I need anything. You need to go home," she began to push against back in the direction of the door.

"Fine, but you have my number on speed dial," he reminded himself more than her. He continued down the path to the door.

"Yes, now go home Troy. I'll be fine," she watched as he turned around to give her a hug.

"I had fun tonight Ella," he whispered in her and Gabriella felt shivers run down her back at the huskiness of his voice. "Call me if you need anything, okay?"

"I will Troy. I'll see you tomorrow, at the bonfire," she gently nudged him out the door. He worried too much.

"Bye Ella," he turned to get one last look at her as he made his way across the driveway. He saw her wave from the doorway.

Gabriella began to think about her and Troy's relationship. It was very strange. She was around his family so often that she considered them to be her own family, yet the thought of thinking of Troy as her brother seemed to be bizarre. They were too emotionally connected to be thought of as siblings.

Gabriella lie in her bed as her thoughts began to shift. It had begun raining again and the lightning flashing in her room made her stomach twist slightly. The storm was picking up and she had felt a lot more comfortable around other people during storms. Come to think of it, she couldn't remember actually being alone during a storm.

She could feel her breathing quicken. All of a sudden, she was feeling claustrophobic and felt as though the room was constricting around her. She tried to shut her eyes to block the shadows of the palm tree twisting and bending from the wind but her body would not allow her. Gabriella wasn't sure what it was but it seemed as though the blood rushing through her body was paralyzing her. She was stuck in her spot. Her body refused to allow her to move and call Troy.

The thunder and lightning wouldn't stop for anyone. No matter how much it scared little kids or adults, there was no preventative measure to be taken. All Gabriella could focus on was the outline of the tree on her wall. Her body lay flat and heavy on the bed. Her stomach was revolting against her body. As she lay flat she felt the way her ribs stuck out of her stomach. Her body ached with the lack of nutrients and her muscles felt weak. Her breathing was still uneven as another boom of thunder rocked her body.

All she could think about was her loneliness. Nobody wanted her. Her mother was always gone, her boyfriend dumped her, and her father drunk himself out of the family. There was no on around to notice how she felt and she put up a fake front for the person who did care. She was so stupid, she should never have let herself open up and trust such a risky person. High school relationships didn't last either. Overall, her reasoning was stupid.

As the storm began to wear down, so did her anxiety attack. That was the only plausible cause as to what had happened. When her arms began to bend and she felt as though she could sit up without puking, she glanced at her alarm clock. It was a little after midnight.

Gabriella decided she would feel bad about calling Troy so late. Then again, if there was one person in the world who cared about her and would forgive her for calling this late, it was Troy. He told her to call if she needed anything. She wiped the tears she wasn't aware had fallen. She stared at her phone for a while before gaining the confidence to call his cell.

She held the phone to her ear and took deep breaths. It rang and rang and she just as when she thought it would go to voicemail she heard his groggy voice on the other end of the line, "Hello?"

Before she spoke she could faintly hear, "Troy, turn your god damn phone off," it was Matt yelling at Troy in their room.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake Matt up," this was a bad idea, she shouldn't have called.

"He'll get over it," all Troy wanted to do was roll back over and sleep.

"Do you think," she stopped herself, "I mean, uh, can you come and pick me up?"

"Um, sure," he was surprised. She was so stubborn that he didn't think she would actually call him.

"I'm sorry. You don't have to, I know it's late and you were asleep and I feel horrible for waking you up-"

"Hey, calm down," he shushed, "I told you to call if you needed anything. I'll be there in five minutes."

Troy snuck out of his bed and pulled a pair of dirty shorts on and grabbed a t-shirt. Something was obviously wrong with Gabriella. She'd acted so strange that day. Rambling was her way of hiding something. He wondered what could have possibly happened in the hour and a half since he had dropped her off at home. Sneaking out of the room, he was happy his brother had fallen back asleep and wouldn't rat him out for leaving the house after curfew.

After he pulled up to Gabriella's house, he'd had to formulate a plan to make it to her house. Even though the thunder and lightning had ceased, the rain was still pouring down. Deciding to just make a run for it, he stood underneath her door jiggling the spare key in the lock. Stepping in dripping wet, he flicked on the lights. Before shutting the door he stuck his head outside and gave it a shake. He slipped his shoes off and went to go upstairs to Gabriella's room.

"Ella?" He questioned venturing down the hall.

"I-I'm in here Troy," she stood in her bedroom shaking slightly. She was cold in the air-conditioned room. She was going to put a sweatshirt on when she heard Troy come inside the house.

"What's the matter?" he could tell from the look in her eyes and the way she was standing that something was wrong.

"I just got startled from the storm," she took a deep breath, she wasn't lying to Troy, she just wasn't sure what had actually happened.

"Do you want me to stay here, or do you want me to take you to my house?" he offered.

She thought about both options, if she stayed here it would be easier to get away with not eating but Troy would likely stay all day tomorrow until the bonfire. If she went to his house, his mother would buy the excuse that she still wasn't feeling good and she would be able to leave whenever she wanted, "Let's go to your house."

"Are you ready to go or do you need to grab anything?" He asked swinging his key chain around his finger.

"I think I've got enough stuff at your house," she concluded while walking over to shut her lights off. She felt Troy wrap his arm around her shoulder, she felt comforted by his actions. She allowed herself to sink into the feeling. Troy was always there for her. He was the one who took her under his wing on her first day of school, was there when her father was arrested, and she had a feeling he would be the one to get her through whatever life would throw at her next.

* * *

**IMPORTANT: PLEASE GO TO CHAPTER 2 OF "AN OCEAN BETWEEN YOU AND ME" TO LEARN ABOUT GABRIELLA'S DAD! Read the italicized part, it will be crucial to part of this story.**

**Also, you may want to check out the flashback in chapter 4 to find out about how Gabriella and Troy meet. It would mean a lot to me if you all just read the other story because it really is their relationship in the future. But you don't have to if you don't want to, but I would really appreciate it. So, thank you in advanced if you do!**

**-Sarah-Anne**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Why, hello lovely readers. How are you today? Because I'm in quite a peachy mood. It just so happens that my boyfriend wrote me a song and sang it in front of my whole math class to ask me to go to prom with him. That means happy Sarah=New Chapter.**

**If you read An Ocean Between You and Me you will hopefully recognize this night without there having to be a flashback ;D**

**I really hope you guys are really getting into the emotional side of eating disorders. I cannot emphasize how much of a sickening disease it is. Not only is it physical, but revolves around emotion. There's so much more to it than most people know.**

**Without further ado... Chapter 4. Dun dun dun dun.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing (unfortunately)**

* * *

Troy Bolton rolled his eyes automatically as his brother spoke to him, "I'm going out. Probably won't be back before curfew."

"Another party? Really Matt? That's the fourth one since we got out of school," not that he would complain about having the house to himself. Their parents were at his brother's soccer games and they were going to have dessert as a team afterwards. The summer games were played after dark due to the heat, they probably wouldn't be home until ten thirty.

"Everyone's having graduation parties, I have to go," the way Matt stressed his words made it seem as though it was less of a farewell and more of a 'let's get drunk' party.

"Fine, but when you get busted from the cops don't come crying to me," Troy wasn't a fan of parties, with his status of future professional basketball player it was simply too risky for him to get caught.

"You're such a wuss Troy. You should come and have a little fun, loosen up," Matt attempted to persuade.

"I'm not a wuss, I'm taking my future into consideration," not that he hadn't been to parties before. He'd been drunk but hated the feeling of not having control over his body and emotions scared the shit out of him. Especially with how much his mind had been running lately.

"You're a wuss," Matt said while applying some cologne.

"Fine, but I'm telling you karma's a bitch," Troy kept his head bent down while texting on his phone.

"No wonder you don't have a girlfriend. You're too boring," Matt's bickering continued.

"Right, because you bring such fabulous women into the house," Troy sarcastically commented referring to the string of bad women Matt brought home.

"At least I'm getting some," Matt smirked checking his reflection in the mirror one last time.

"Because getting some, partying, and drinking will get you so far in life," Troy knew his words would never stick with his brother. Verbal reprimands would not suit Matt, something else would have to tame his wild side.

"In high school it will," Troy took a second to think about the validity of the statement, sure it would bring popularity in high school but that wasn't what everyone wanted. High school would only be four years of his life, four years that could build you up to go far in life or get you addicted to crack for the rest of your life.

"Well guess what, you aren't in high school anymore," Troy was aware his parents would approve of his side in this current argument.

"But you are," was Matt's final blow as he walked out of his room. Troy rolled his eyes again, Matt was trying to attack him in ways that wouldn't be effective.

He'd had girlfriends, two this year actually. Troy had dated the first girl over the summer and a short time into September. Her name was Lydia, she was a sweet, petite, blond who was looking for something to occupy her extra summer time. The relationship ended up being your classic summer fling. They hadn't spent much time together and their relationship was mostly physical with little emotional attachment. It had broke when he realized that he really didn't mind seeing her with different guys, in fact he didn't get jealous when someone else asked her to homecoming. She seemed more like a friend with benefits than an actual girlfriend. He didn't even remember actually asking her to be his girlfriend, it was just assumed.

Then there was Jessica. Jessica was yet another short live girlfriend, however she had brought a spice to his life. She was energetic and spunky, crazy and loud. Jess, as he called her, was one of those people that would hang upside down on the monkey bars, singing Green Day while gargling tapioca pudding and everyone would still think she was hot. She lived to have fun and for herself, which is why she couldn't stay faithful to Troy. Despite being together for five months, Troy simply wasn't enough for her. It wasn't unpredictable that Jess would get bored with him, all he really had going for her was his looks. She just wasn't a girl that could commit herself to someone.

Troy, he wasn't heartbroken over either of them. Of course there were those moments right after the breakups that he'd been frustrated and a little confused and even though Jessica had cheated on him, there wasn't a longing to return to the relationship. He had been fairly pissed afterwards but he realized that someone who would openly cheat on him wasn't worth his time.

He hadn't been on any dates since Jessica, ever since they broke up his motto had been that girls just simply weren't worth his waste of time.

Except Gabriella. Troy wouldn't admit it but he was waiting for Jon to dump her. It was only a matter of time before he could make his move. Yes, it would be a while, Gabriella was obviously more emotional about her breakup than he was with any of his. However, this gave him secret confidence. He knew that at this time, even if she was asked out, she would deny all date requests, leaving her available for him.

Yes, his thoughts surprised him. Yes, this was one of those things he would never, ever, tell Gabriella about because she would murder him. Recently he couldn't keep his eyes off her, she was so beautiful. The past few months, he'd noticed things he wouldn't otherwise. The way she slid her sandal off her right foot to use it to gently scratch her calf or when she'd laugh, she'd bend her head forward and let her hair mask her face were both recent discoveries.

These things had lead him to other questions. What would she look like in a short black dress and some high heels? What else had he never noticed about her before? How long does she keep her eyes closed after kissing someone? She was so tiny, would she be crushed under his weight?

Then there were the inevitable questions. If they kissed, would it be like kissing someone in his family? What if he broke their ten-year friendship because he thought he had a physical attraction to her? Did she feel the same way?

Those were the questions that couldn't be answered. The questions that could not be verbally answered without physical motions.

* * *

Gabriella stepped out of the shower shortly after five in the evening. Her towel was wrapped tightly around her breasts as she walked down the hall toward her bedroom to retrieve her clothing. Her wet hair hung straight and sticky against her skin. She opened her top drawer, picking out a black racerback sports-bra and black panties. Knowing she wasn't going anywhere, she pulled out one of her numerous pairs of red soccer shorts and a black ribbed tank top. As she slid her garments on, she folded the waistband of her shorts over, they were slightly loose due to her weight loss. She smiled, happy her clothing was loose.

Their house did not have a scale so she wasn't sure exactly how much weight she had lost in the past two weeks. Her guess was that it was somewhere around ten pounds. Everyday she had been running at least two miles. On top of that she had purchased numerous fitness magazines and had been practicing the at home fitness moves. She really wished she had a membership to a gym or knew someone with a gym membership.

Food wise she hadn't been eating much. She allowed herself two pieces of fruit every two hours, however it generally wasn't that often. Today she was making it by with only six grapes so far, a new record. The overnight hunger pains were long gone and she found the less she ate, the less hungry she was. Giving in and eating made her feel weak, like she was breaking her rules. Her goal was lost when she ate. The more she ate, the more tempted she was to eat more. If she didn't establish rules there was no way her regimen would be successful.

The dizziness and light-headedness was becoming less frequent but more paralyzing. Every few hours a wave would hit her and she would have to lay down for a while before resuming with her daily activity. Sometimes when the dizziness left though, she would get a strong headache. Those went away easily with Advil.

Suddenly, her cell phone began to ring, startling her. Venturing over to her bed side table, she picked up the phone and held it to her ear, "Hello?"

"Hey Ella," she heard Troy's very familiar and overused greeting, "What's up?"

"Nothing, I just got out of the shower, what are you doing?" she questioned.

Troy had to gulp to re-quench his mouth after hearing her statement, there were those feelings, "Matt's out partying and Mom and Dad are Liam and Mason's soccer game. You should come over, I'm bored."

"You didn't want to go to the party with Matt?" she questioned, she knew it was summer and usually by now he was in the party mood.

"Nah, I'm not really in the partying mood. We kind of got into an argument before he left," it wasn't unusual for the two to fight, it was best they avoided each other after arguments.

"Well, I'll be over soon then," she decided not to change. She was perfectly comfortable wearing this in front of Troy. After all, he had been there to see her go through her whole awkward inbetween preteen boob growing stage, as she liked to call it. Some of the things she wore then still made her shiver. Troy would be fine with her casualness.

"Okay, I'll order a pizza," he hung up the phone and went to the kitchen to find the number of the pizzeria. He was surprised that he didn't have the number on speed dial or have it memorized by now.

While waiting for Gabriella to arrive he busied himself cleaning the basement slightly. Despite how many times his mother had told him to clean the basement before inviting friends over, the one time his mother was gone he listened to her advice.

He fluffed a few pillows and organized the various disks scattered about on the floor. Picking up the remote, he flipped the channel, landing on a _Friends _rerun. The basement looked semi-decent so he let his butt sink into the couch cushions. If Gabriella walked in on him watching this, he'd never hear the end of it. Maybe he could get by with saying he was simply tolerating it while waiting for her to arrive.

Lying to Gabriella never worked though.

Slowly, his eyes fluttered shut. He could rest a little before she arrived maybe. Before he could completely fall asleep, he heard the door of his house open and then a few seconds later, shut close. Listening, he could faintly hear footsteps padding down the stairs. Shifting his gaze, he knew who it was. Her hair swung in her pontytail and he could see the definition of her collarbone.

Letting his gaze wonder down her body, he noticed how stick like she had become. Sure, she hadn't worn any particularly tight clothing around him recently, but he didn't remember her being so skinny. Once again referencing his mother's ideals, he decided not to question if she'd lost weight.

Without saying a word, she flopped down near his feet and swung her legs up to rest on top of his. She marveled in the way his hairy, muscled legs contrasted her smooth freshly shaven calves. "Watching _Friends?"_

"Maybe," he wouldn't cave.

"Oh my God, you like watching _Friends _don't you?" she gasped in realization, "Once again, the best friend wins."

"No, I simply put it on because I knew we would argue over what to watch and I'm not in the mood for another fi-" his sentence was cut off by the door bell, "One second, pizza's here."

Gabriella shifted uncomfortably in her spot and pulled her legs up to her chest to hold. Troy returned with a large box, paper plates, and napkins, "Pepperoni and sausage."

Gabriella smiled weakly, "Of course it is."

She watched as he opened the lid and slid a few greasy pieces out. Gabriella wanted to gag just at the sight. Troy leaned back in his spot, "Aren't you going to have some?"

"No," she declined politely.

"You couldn't have possibly eaten already it's barely six," she always ate pizza, even if she wasn't hungry.

"I'm not hungry," she defended herself.

"Come on Ella, just one piece. You know you want it," he offered holding a slice out to her.

"I don't want it," she spoke decisively.

Troy furrowed his eyebrows, he hadn't seen her much this week. She had been heading out on a run each time he texted her to come over and he'd been fairly busy hanging out with friends and playing basketball. "I got a large so we could split it though."

"Maybe you should have checked with me to see if I wanted some first," she quipped.

"But you always eat pizza with me, even when you aren't hungry," he was beginning to sound like a five year old who lost his new puppy.

"Well I'm not going to eat the damn pizza!"

"What the hell Gabriella? I didn't invite you over here to fight with me. I just thought you'd want a piece of pizza," this was the first time Gabriella had ever sworn at him, and the first time he'd sworn at her in an argument.

"Don't you dare swear at me. Just stop trying to force that piece of fat down my fucking throat and we'll be fine," she was enraged now. Her mood had completely snapped.

"I-," Troy stumbled in astonishment, "Wha- What the hell did you just say?"

Gabriella stood up off the couch, "Nothing, I just don't want any pizza."

Troy stood up too, realizing she was going to try and leave. When she turned around, he placed his hand on her shoulder to turn her around. He wasn't going to let her leave in this state, "Ella, what's going on?"

Gabriella allowed him to stop her but she refused to turn around and face him. She let a tear slide down her face, "Nothing."

"It's not nothing, you're never like this. You just swore at me, twice Gabriella," he couldn't comprehend what was happening.

"It's nothing Troy, just let me leave," she moved to take another step but she just felt Troy pull her closer to him.

"You aren't leaving until you tell me what's wrong," he said forcefully. He knew he shouldn't force her to stay but he'd been sensing something was wrong recently.

She turned around and Troy saw the tears in her eyes. He felt his knees go weak, he'd never seen her look so vulnerable. Holding his arms out, he opened himself up for a hug.

Gabriella ignored his offer and walked to the couch again, folding her arms over her chest. Troy felt the sting of her refusal.

He sat down too and stared at her. The whole argument confused him, why was she so defensive over a slice of pizza? It wasn't generally an argument starter, certainly not for Gabriella and Troy.

"This isn't about the pizza, is it?" Troy questioned.

"Do you have to keep bringing that up? It's just pissing me off."

"I'm not doing it to piss you off, I'm doing it because something is obviously wrong," he was going to get to the bottom of this no matter how long it took.

"Nothing is wrong! How many times do I have to tell you that?" she was getting more and more decisive with each comment.

"Fine then, look me in the eyes and tell me that you're fine. I'll let you leave if you can do that," he created in ultimatum.

She tilted her head up so that it would be level with his face. Her eyes began at his chin, tracing up over his lips, nose, and finally to his eyes. The tears that had previously threatened to fall were clearly evident to Troy now.

Troy's body softened slightly at her face, she looked broken. There were bags underneath her eyes and her face looked pale. She looked sick and tired. As her best friend, he hated to see her look so terrible especially while they were fighting.

"I" was all that came out of her mouth, it hung open trying to form the second word that would free her. It was Troy though, she couldn't lie to him.

Troy took the tears that fell down her cheek as a sign she wasn't able to complete the task, "Ella."

He hated seeing her like this, her pain caused him pain. Reaching forward her grasped her foot and began to gently knead, first her toes, then her heels, and up to her calves. He hoped the gentle actions would sooth her into talking to him, "It's going to be okay Ella."

"You're all I have Troy," she shook as she spoke. She hadn't realized how mentally unstable she really was until that moment.

Gabriella's comment scared Troy a little. He dropped her feet and moved so that he was sitting right next to her, "What do you mean Ella?"

"Nobody cares. Nobody notices. Nobody wants to be around me," there was a knot in her throat threatening to choke her.

"No Ella, that's not true," he didn't care if she would retaliate, he wrapped his arm around her and pulled her so that she was slightly sitting on him.

"Yes it is Troy. Jon dumped me, you are the only real friend I have, Mom doesn't care, she's never home," her cry was getting deeper and starting to shake her slightly.

"What started this Ella? You always say you are fine home alone," Troy pushed further.

Gabriella let her head fall against shoulder, she was getting weaker every second that went by, "I need to tell someone why Jon and I really broke up."

He didn't say anything, he had a feeling he was about to be told some twisted story.

"There's not much to it really, he wanted sex and I wouldn't give it to him," she stopped talking.

"And," he continued for her.

"And he insulted me, called me fat. I still wouldn't give so he dumped me," she stopped her story there.

Everything pieced together, her not wanting to eat, the sudden weight loss, the mood swings, last week when she got sick, everything fit together, "Ella, you aren't fat. You know that, right?"

Confirmation didn't sound. The silence struck him more than words.

"When was the last time you ate Ella?"

Silence still.

"Come on Ella, I'm not going to run off and tell anyone," he confirmed.

Sighing, she spoke, "A few hours ago."

"That's not bad, what'd you eat? A salad?" From the look he received he realized that he was wrong, "What?"

"Grapes."

"Ella, come on now, you aren't giving me much information," he pried.

"No, that's it."

"Okay, then what did you have for breakfast?" He didn't want confirmation of what he'd suspected.

"Grapes."

Now he didn't like the lack of emotion she was giving him, "That's not good Ella."

"I can't do it Troy. I can't eat," her desperation washed over her and she clutched his waist.

This was much more serious than he'd expected, "You need to get some help then Ella."

"Now, I'll be fine Troy. I'll get over it myself," she rebutted.

"I really think you need to get some help. You can't get over something this serious by yourself," for once he was surprised that he didn't know what to do.

"No, they'll put me in some crazy place Troy. I can't do that. They'll take me away, I'll be stuck with insane people," she took a deep breath, "They'll take me away from you. You're all I have Troy."

"It's not worth it though, ruining your body and health. You can't do that to yourself," health came first, always. You couldn't achieve anything if you weren't healthy. Health included mental stability too.

"Troy, you have to promise not to tell anyone," she looked into his eyes.

All Troy could recognize was the hurt and despair in her eyes. It broke his heart to see his best friend in so much trouble, "I'm sorry I didn't put the pieces together quicker. I could have prevented this from getting so far."

"Troy, promise me," she wasn't going to let him change the topic.

His head fell back against the couch. If he promised her, they would remain at a good place but he would be allowing her to possibly ruin her health. If he got her help, she would most likely not talk to him until she realized it was for the best. He sighed, "Fine, I promise. But there are conditions."

"What?"

"First, you have to try to eat. Especially when I'm around," he paused before his second condition, "Second, I get to punch the jackass in the face. No complaints."

"I'll come with and kick him in the balls," Troy laughed at her response.

"You know I'm not the only one that cares about you, right?" He soothingly rubbed her back, "There are so many people that would be devastated if something happened to you, not just me. And your mom, is doing what she thinks is best for you. She isn't purposely neglecting you. She loves you, trust me."

"I trust you Troy."

* * *

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	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Wow, two story updates, two days in a row. That's pretty impressive for me. This is pretty much a filler chapter.**

**REVIEWERS I (HEART) YOU SO MUCH! You are all amazing and wonderful.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

* * *

Troy Bolton rolled over in his bed to look at the alarm clock next to his bed, 2:14 it read. Rolling his eyes at the realization his brother wasn't home yet, he began to wonder exactly why he hadn't been able to fall asleep. Knowing Gabriella was safe in the room next to him, he allowed his mind to wonder to her revelation. He'd been so frustrated with her, she was so emotional. It was odd for her, he'd never seen her act that way.

The fingers on his right hand were enough for him to count the number of times he'd ever heard her swear. That's what startled him at the beginning. Her sharp attitude only furthered his worry about her. There was no way he could possibly explain why she had acted that way. Never had he seen her so broken, frustrated, and angered.

All over a piece of pizza. Their first serious fight had been over a piece of pizza.

Besides her attitude, Troy was afraid about what she was doing to her body. She'd been out running a lot lately he'd noticed, and she would easily run three or four miles per day. A body could only take so much without the proper amount of carbohydrates. His father worked to help his mother keep their meals high in protein and carbohydrates because of their high-energy workouts.

Jumping at the click of the door, Troy turned his head in the direction of the noise. It was most likely not his brother because he couldn't hear any clumsy, drunken, footsteps. Sitting up, he clicked on the light resting on his night stand.

He saw Gabriella smile at him, "Hey."

"Hey," Troy mimicked.

Tip-toeing to the edge of the bed, she slid the covers back slightly and gently set herself down on top of the bed, "Were you sleeping?"

"No," he let his head rest against his long pillow once again and allowed his eyes to watch Gabriella do the same.

"I couldn't fall asleep," she was exhausted yet her mind had been on overdrive.

"Me either," Troy took note of the bags under her eyes.

"I wanted to apologize for earlier," their first argument of the night had a domino affect apparently. After her emotional breakdown, Troy had insisted she spend the night. Gabriella, being in a stubborn mood, refused. That only led to another argument, which hadn't ended as well as the first. Lucille had been the one to break it up after hearing them argue, she walked down the stairs and asked if everything was okay. Both faked smiles and agreed for Troy's mother's sake, that everything was fine. Lucille had then said, "So, you'll be staying the night then Gabriella?"

She couldn't reject.

Gabriella had headed to what had been deemed 'her' room without a word to Troy. Troy had given up, brushed his teeth, and headed to bed.

Troy sighed and spoke with tension in his voice, "Forget about it Gabriella."

She took his turned back as a sign that he was still pissed at her. Resting her hand on Troy's shoulder she tried to get him to relax a little, "Are you mad at me?"

"Honestly Gabriella, yes I am," his frustration with her bubbled over, "You can't expect me to be pleased with the fact that I invited you over to hang out and you ended up arguing with me."

Gabriella winced at his tone that had never been directed at her, "I'm sorry."

"Gabriella, you were fighting with me and I had no clue what was going on," Troy continued, "And I was keeping your interests in mind by inviting you to stay the night. I'm not trying to get you to stay here because Mom's around all the time and she'll force you to eat. I just wanted to make sure you didn't go out and do something stupid."

"I really am sorry Troy," she didn't have a clue about how flustered he'd been after their second argument of the night.

"I'm just trying to help Gabriella. By telling me something like that, you can't expect me to just drop the topic and move on," he pushed, "If you ask me to help, I'm going to help."

"I know," she felt like a little kid being scolded by her mother after getting her dress dirty at the playground. Letting her hand gently knead his shoulder, she tried to make it evident that she really was sorry.

"You're my best friend, but I'm only keeping this to myself unless you take my help," Troy really didn't know how he could help her get through this, except by providing support.

"I will," she didn't know how else to get Troy to forgive her, "I don't like when you're mad at me."

Troy sighed again, "I don't like being mad at you Gabriella." He rolled over to his back, making it so that their faces were almost touching. Even though it was a double sized bed, there wasn't much room for both of them to fit, "But what do you expect when you drop something like that on me? I had no clue what was wrong when you showed up and behaved like that."

Gabriella didn't respond because she didn't have time to. The door to Troy's bedroom opened and they heard a loud thud as it hit the wall. Matt came stumbling in drunkenly, "Oops, sorry, I didn't know you guys were getting busy."

Troy rolled his eyes at his brother. Even though he didn't approve of his brother's partying ways he didn't have the confidence to tell his parents about it. His parents had stayed awake until an hour after curfew and Matt would undoubtedly get grounded for a while.

Standing up, Troy shoved his brother into his bed, "Go to bed Matt."

"Hey now, I'm in the room, so take Gabriella or whoever it is somewhere else to fuck," Matt drunkenly spoke something he wouldn't normally while Gabriella was around.

"Go to bed Matt," Troy scolded, "And we aren't going to fuck."

"Whatever you two are going to do, do it somewhere else please," Matt said while struggling to pull his shirt over his head.

"Goodnight Matt," Troy said obnoxiously loud. He walked over to Gabriella and held his hand out for her to grasp in the process of getting out of his bed and shut off the light. Leading her down the hall, Troy gave her a gentle kiss on the cheek.

"Do you forgive me?" Gabriella questioned softly.

Troy melted at her sad puppy dog face, "I guess."

Gabriella stood on her tiptoes to wrap her arms around his neck, "Really, I am sorry."

"Goodnight Gabriella," Troy kept her close by rubbing her back consistently, giving her consent of his forgiveness.

"'Night Troy," she clung tightly to his neck, "See you in the morning?"

"Mhmm," Troy nodded his head, loving the feeling of her body pressing up so closely to his, "Get some sleep, okay?"

"You too," Gabriella reluctantly dropped her arms from Troy's neck and flashed him a half smile as he squeezed her shoulder one last time.

Resting back in his bed, Troy tried to focus on rhythmic breathing to try to fall asleep. Gabriella's revelation had shocked him and he was having a difficult time accepting it. Hearts were cracking in both of them because of their argument. Even if Troy wasn't aware of it yet, Gabriella did have feeling for him. Neither would act on those feelings until the time was right.

Troy's heart really broke at any doubt of her body image. She was gorgeous and Jon was a jackass for not appreciating the beauty he'd had within his grasp. He could picture her body in his mind. Starting at her face, bangs swung sideways over her forehead, down to her light chocolate intoxicating eyes to her defiant cheek bones. Gabriella's arm were thin, and she often crossed them over the curves of her chest. He could not deny that there were times he simply wanted to let his hands drift down the length of her body to feel her curves. Her waist was tiny and what not many people knew, was that underneath her t-shirt was a naval piercing. One too many times he'd run across a few long, dangly piercings he knew didn't belong in ears. He was never sure why, but Gabriella really liked piercings. Then there were her legs. Gorgeous, shapely, muscular, toned legs that he loved to message when she placed them in his lap. It was the one part of her body he could touch without feeling like he was pushing the limits.

For such a beautiful women to feel so insecure confused him. Someone, who didn't need any alteration on a single inch of her body, felt fat because of words from another person. Of course she was going to end up comparing herself to the other girls Jon flirted with after his irresponsible actions. Not everyone can be five foot nine and weigh one hundred and ten pounds though. Some girls were just born that way. Other girls, the ones he preferred, were born with natural curves. Wasn't that what made a woman sexy though? In Troy's mind, what separated a woman's body from a man's was the naturally curvy shape that made one want to sink in to.

Personally, it broke his heart to see his best friend like this. He had been frustrated with her during their argument but he knew it was just a wall she put up to protect herself. There was a reason she fought with Troy, to make it easier for her to admit her problem to him. Sure, she didn't purposely try to fight with Troy but it was a gateway for her to make her confession easier, and Troy understood that.

If there was one thing he could do, it would be to take her pain away. Seeing her so broken, not just broke his heart, but made it feel like someone took a jackhammer and decided to chip away at his heart piece by piece, until there was nothing left.

* * *

"Ella? You here?" Troy shouted as he entered Gabriella's house with a bag in hand.

"I'm upstairs," she sat on her bed with a laptop on her lap.

After shaking off his shoes, Troy bounded up the stairs to Gabriella's purple room. She sat smack in the middle of her large bed, "Dinner is here."

Troy tossed the plastic bag he was carrying on her bed. It contained two salads, both simple tossed salads, one without dressing, and one with. Troy observed the face she made, "Hey, don't make that face at me."

For a week and a half now, Troy had stopped by every night around six or seven with food for dinner. The type of foods varied little, mostly he brought salads, which she thought was easier to eat, but occasionally he brought turkey sandwiches. Those days she really hated him.

She had learned within the first few days not to argue with him about food. He was getting really strict about her eating patterns. Knowing she didn't eat much throughout the day when he wasn't there, he checked stock of her refrigerator and pantry to see if she ate anything and to make sure she had something small she could snack on daily that could provide her some sort of nutrients.

"What have you eaten today?" He was beginning to get very protective over her. If she didn't eat, he'd threatened to drive her to the hospital himself. The first few days he'd gotten pretty close to throwing her over his shoulder and forcing her to go. He would only hold up his end of the deal if she held up hers.

"A couple pieces of broccoli," she hadn't willingly eaten anything with carbs or sugar.

"Five bites, minimum," Troy had caught on quickly that when he brought salads she could easily get away with pushing the food around a little to make it look like she ate something. That was why he imposed a minimum amount of bites she had to eat before she could even consider him leaving her alone.

Normally Troy would invite her over to eat dinner at his house but he wasn't cruel enough to expose her to his mother's prodding. Also, she would undoubtedly get sick from the smell of food his mother cooked. Gabriella's mom had been home four days since he started bringing her dinner. Then they had decided to meet up at the park to eat, even though Maria had worked late enough that Gabriella could have said she ate earlier and Maria wouldn't even question.

Even though he was forcing her to eat, he knew it wasn't enough. A couple bites of salad a day was an improvement but was nowhere near daily nutritional values. He'd taken it upon himself to do a little research, someone her weight and height would need to take in about 1800 Calories, 130 grams of Carbohydrates, and 46 grams of Protein. A full tossed salad contained a mere 17 approximate calories, 3.3 grams of Carbohydrates, and 1.3 grams of Protein. She was only eating a fraction of those numbers. Her body was at risk if she didn't up her intake. His fear was that if she didn't start to eat more something bad would happen.

In the few days he'd been helping her, he was really starting to get scared for her. She seemed withdrawn, more so than usual. Never wanting to do anything, she wouldn't go swimming for fear of her body, wouldn't go out to dinner, for fear of eating, the only thing she seemed to do was go to the library or the movies when Troy dragged her out of the house.

"What'd you do today?" He knew that essentially this physical depression had begun emotionally.

"I read, went for a run, you know, the usual," she shrug her shoulders not being too upset, this was how she normally spent her summers, "What'd you do?"

"Played a pickup game of basketball and slept," Troy was a big fan of staying up late and sleeping into the afternoon.

"It's getting really hot outside," Summer sometimes seemed unbearable in the desert.

"I know," Troy chewed his food in-between words, "We should do something tomorrow."

"That's be nice," to be honest, she wanted a little change in her daily routine.

"You know what we should do? We should drive out and hike Jemez Falls again. I don't think we've been up there for a few years," One time they had gone out to hike the waterfall shortly after Gabriella's father had been arrested for his DUI. It was an easy hike and was only an hour and a half away from Albuquerque.

"That sounds like a good idea actually," Gabriella thought it over while very slowly chewing her small bite of salad.

"I'll pick you up at eight then?" Troy questioned, excited to get away from their daily boring life. It'd be good for Gabriella too.

"Sure," Gabriella agreed contently.

Together they finished their meals and Troy did his usual check in the kitchen. He made sure Gabriella was going to pack some granola bars and water bottles for their hike. It was an easy hike, but he didn't want either of them to get dehydrated on their way up to see the spectacular waterfall.

* * *

**I smell a flashback coming up.**

**So, I hope everyone knows this is only the beginning of the story. Trust me, this is just the beginning of Gabriella's eating disorder.**

**Oh, and I'm not a doctor. I have been through this before, so I know how it works but I wouldn't take any of my information as 100% credible.**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Drama, drama, drama!**

**Reviewers! You are truly amazing and blow my mind away! I always love hearing what you have to say!**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing**

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Troy felt a bead of sweat trickle down his face, finally they were at the top of the waterfall. The sight was amazing, he loved the feeling of finishing. Knowing that he had completed a task, he thrived off that feeling, "You okay?"

"I'm fine," she said while wiping some sweat from her face. Feeling exhilarated, she took a swig from her water and sat down on a rock. Many years ago she had made the same hike with Troy's family.

"You sure?" He wanted to make sure that she wasn't feeling light headed, especially due to her lack of nutrition lately.

Rolling her eyes in response, "I'm absolutely sure."

"Okay," he let out a slightly frustrated breath. Some days she was moody, others she was less moody but none the less, still moody. He continued to take in the sight and let the noise sooth his thoughts and worries about Gabriella. Not knowing how to push her into health, his head had pounded trying to come up with ideas.

Gabriella had taken her camera out and was snapping pictures. Looking around, she spotted someone to ask to take a picture of the two of them. Grabbing the back of Troy's shirt in surprise, he stumbled a little as she wrapped her arm around his waist. Spotting the camera in the hands of a woman he didn't know, he returned the gesture. Wrapping his arm around her shoulder he plastered a smile on his face through his frustration. Many years previous, they'd stood in almost the exact same spot with similar smiles plastered on their faces.

"_Come on Ella!" Troy hollered to his best friend from a top a rock. He was climbing higher in his fearless nature._

_Taking a look up where he was leading to she shook her head, "I can't do it Troy."_

"_Sure you can, it's easy," Troy looked down above her head._

"_It's too high," she complained, he was maybe seven feet off the ground._

"_Grab a rock and climb! It's exactly like a rock wall but real," he instructed her from above._

"_How will I get down though? What if I fall?" Biting her lip, she looked the rock up and down again._

"_You won't fall, I promise Ella," Troy was beginning to get impatient._

"_But what if we get in trouble Troy?" She realized she was running out of excuses._

"_Who cares if we get in trouble? Come on Ella!"_

"_I'm scared," the nine year old bit her lip. She'd been scared a lot lately._

"_You'll always be scared unless you climb it now," he lectured her._

_Taking a moment to will her tears away, she placed her hand on the rock and lifted a foot. Taking each step slowly, she started climbing the wall. It wasn't that tall of a wall she realized when she was nearing the top._

"_You're almost there Ella," Troy encouraged. Gabriella had not been expecting his words of wisdom. Her hand slipped from its grip on the red rock. "It's okay, put your hand back on the rock and keep climbing."_

_Gabriella tried not to cry from her startle. She was going to fall. Reaching up, her hand grabbed the rock again. This time, her foot a was too far from a closer spot, "Troy, I can't do it"_

"_Step up a little further and I'll help you the rest of the way up," Blindly, Gabriella placed her left foot up further and let her right dangle. Before she knew it, Troy's hands gripped under her arm pits to help pull her waist up to the ledge of the rock. Finishing the rest of the way up, she pushed as though she was getting out of a swimming pool. Standing up, she felt on the top of the world. For once, she could see straight over everyone's heads._

"_I told you that you'd make it up," Troy smiled at her and sat down next to her. "We should eat our lunch up here," he said, pulling out the sandwich bag his mother had made from his backpack._

_Gabriella bit into the peanut butter and jelly sandwich Lucille had made. Troy's parents were off with Matt taking pictures. They'd probably get mad at Troy and Gabriella for climbing the rock._

"_My mom's going to see my Dad today," she said quietly._

"_Is he gonna come home soon?" Troy questioned with a mouth full of food. Many times Gabriella had tagged along with Troy's family while her mother had to deal with her father._

"_No," she picked at the crust on her sandwich, "Mom said he's not coming home for a long time."_

"_How long is a long time?" Troy questioned, knowing it had already been five months since Gabriella had last seen her father._

"_I don't know," her tone quieted._

"_Do you miss him?" Troy began to think about what would happen if he hadn't seen his own father for five months._

"_Yeah," Not knowing what was going to happen, she nodded sadly._

"_We can share my Dad if you want," He offered._

"_Really?" Gabriella questioned, a slight smile gracing her face._

"_Yeah, Dad won't mind," he said, as though they were planning a play dated._

"_Thanks Troy," she wrapped her arms around him in a loose hug._

The lady handed Gabriella her camera back, "You better keep him on a tight string, he's a cutie."

Deciding to play along Gabriella said, "I know. The strings about this long." Holding up her hand she spread her thumb and forefinger about an inch apart.

Walking away from the woman and back to Troy, she held up the camera. Troy questioned, "What was that about?"

"Nothing," Gabriella said, trying to hide her smirk, "She told me to keep you on a tight string. She thinks you're a cutie."

"Doesn't everybody?" He held his arms out to gesture to the nature around him.

"Woah, don't get too cocky now," she scolded, "I have pictures of you, face covered in zits from the summer of seventh grade."

"You said you'd burn those," he squinted his eyes in mock disapproval.

"I had mom put them in photo album," sticking her tongue out at him.

"You didn't."

"Oh yes I did, should I pull it out some time? Maybe I can invite the cheer squad over one day and show them," she teased.

"You aren't that mean," Troy rolled his eyes.

"I can be if I want to," she smirked, knowing that she had revenge if she ever needed it on him.

"You like me too much to do that," Troy refuted.

"We'll see about that," she gave him a wink in understanding.

"I know where your diary from seventh grade is," Troy pulled out his defense.

Gabriella giggled, "Seventh grade seems so long ago."

"I know," Troy pondered for a moment, "Remember the last time we were here?"

"Mhmm," she nodded her head, "You said we could share your dad."

"I know," he chuckled thinking about how naïve they were.

"Can you believe we've known each other almost ten years?" Thinking about it, Gabriella hadn't realized how long it truly had been.

"It's mind blowing," they were sitting side by side and Troy squeezed Gabriella's knee.

"Sometimes it's hard to believe we're still so close," Gabriella shifted closer to Troy.

Troy nodded his head as Gabriella leant hers onto his shoulder, "We're going to be best friends forever, aren't we?"

As cheesy as it was, Gabriella couldn't help but agree with him. At this point, it seemed like nothing could break them apart.

* * *

Troy sighed in frustration after pulling his car into Gabriella's drive way. Maria was out working and Troy was there to deliver Gabriella's daily dinner. It was two weeks after Troy and Gabriella had gone on their hike to Jemez falls and the first day of July, and their relationship had begun to get more and more tense everyday.

This week Gabriella had refused to leave her house. Her self consciousness had driven over all her thoughts and Troy had considered ripping his hair out many times while seeing her. She claimed she was too unsatisfied with her body to leave the house.

Even though he could easily wrap one of his hands around her calf completely she was unsatisfied. Feeding her had turned into a fight and he dreaded it everyday. Although, it was the only thing that held up their communication.

Sometimes he just wanted to shout in her face that she was stupid. The girl was gorgeous yet she felt that her body wasn't good enough. Many tears had been shed as they argued over her eating habits, but there was nothing he could do to persuade her.

Stepping out of his truck, he grabbed the bag he had placed on the passenger seat. Glancing down, he ran his hand through his shaggy hair. He really needed to get a haircut. The bag contained a small amount of fruit, he'd decided on trying something different. Yesterday she hadn't taken a single bite of the salad he brought and demanded he bring her something less fattening.

Maybe she'd at least eat a little bit of the watermelon, raspberries, or cantaloupe he brought.

Letting himself into the house, he trecked the stairs slowly. Knowing she was in her room, he didn't bother looking anywhere else and opened the door. She was sitting on her bed, a book laying next to her and a laptop on her lap. A frown adorned her face at his arrival.

"Nice to see you too," Troy said and forced a fake smile on his face.

"You're wasting you time," Gabriella had said the same line many days in a row now.

"You're wasting your life," After two weeks of this, his rebounds were great but overused.

Gabriella's attitude had become extensive. Opening the bag he threw on her bed, she felt relieved to see fruit instead of a salad. Watermelon, mostly composed of water made her feel a lot better about eating then salad. She knew how to make Troy cave. Maybe she could get away with eating two slices of watermelon.

"Eat," Troy said and sat at her desk chair, eyes watching her carefully so she wouldn't cheat. Many times she'd attempted to cheat lately.

"Fine," she pulled out the smallest slice of watermelon she could find. Taking a bite, she ate half of it and put the other half on top of the Tupperware container. It was a mind trick, eating half meant eating half the calories. She could technically eat four pieces of watermelon, which would satisfy Troy, and have only technically consumed the calories of two pieces.

"If you're only going to eat halves, that means you eat twice as much," Troy heard Gabriella groan, realizing he was catching on to her trick. "You're only cheating yourself Gabriella."

At this point, Troy knew he should just give up trying to get her to eat. She was only eating minimal amounts, and barely at that. Each day, it got worse. As much as she was pissing him off at the moment, he knew he couldn't just give up. Even if he wasn't getting her to eat, he knew he had to come over everyday. It wasn't as much about making sure she ate anymore, it was more about making sure she didn't do something drastic to herself. Yes, he had contemplated not showing up and letting her come crying to him when she realized how stupid she was being.

Then it hit him, what if stopping his visits caused her to hurt herself even more? He knew that starving herself may be only the beginning. His visits may mean the difference between her beginning to destroy her body even more, that was his biggest fears. Not knowing how he could fix her if she started cutting or something of that nature had scared the shit out of him. Even worse, if her mental state continued at this rate he was afraid that it could get to the point of her contemplating suicide. He knew that she believed he was the only one that cared about her. Leaving her would mean that she thought she had no one. Obviously, what seemed to be a physical impairment had turned into something much larger. Sticking this out was definitely better than having to learn how to live without her.

Knowing that at the rate which her mental state was deteriorating, it was only a matter of time before he would have to seek help for her. She was beyond the point of return.

"When's your mom coming home?" Troy questioned, he was more comfortable if someone was with her. Assuming someone was at home with her, meant that she was safe for a little while longer.

"Late," she groaned, knowing that after only three bites of watermelon she still had five more to go.

"I'll stay here until she gets home then," he said, awaiting her refusal.

"You should go home Troy. You'll miss dinner," even though she wasn't eating, she knew that he would die without food.

"You've got more than enough food around here," he refused because she did have plenty of un-eaten food around here.

She continued with her sixth piece, struggling. Placing the half down, she debated stalling her last two pieces, "Fine, you stay and I get to eat my last two pieces later."

"You're still going to end up eating them," Troy was not going to allow her to skip out on her meal.

Rolling her eyes again, she closed the container of food and shoved it to the floor. Picking up her book, she attempted to ignore Troy's presence. Troy had placed the earbuds of his headphones into his ear, dropping his head against the back of the chair.

About an hour passed, before Troy got sick of listening to his music. Once again, he felt his heart break at the sight of Gabriella. Her limbs were so skinny, but no one noticed because she covered them up in baggy sweatshirts. Noticing she was beginning to drift off, he pulled back the sheets of her bed and slid in next to her. Placing his hand on her shoulder, he whispered in her ear, "We don't have to do this Gabriella."

"Troy, leave me alone," she knew that at such close proximity it would be impossible to ignore him.

"Ella, I'm serious," he squeezed her bony shoulder, "We don't have to fight like this. All this, the forcing you to eat and the fighting can stop."

Gabriella really didn't want another lecture from him and didn't respond.

"Please Gabriella," he begged, "Let me get you some help. It'll be so much better for both us."

"I don't need help Troy," she rebutted, "I'm perfectly fine."

"No you aren't Ella," Troy's voice was soft and soothing in his attempt, "You know you aren't."

"Troy, please, it's not worth your time to try and convince me to do this," she whispered. Her emotions were all over the place lately, it took a lot out of her to continue to refuse his clearly desperate voice.

"I worry about you all the time though Ella," pleading was something Troy wasn't used to, "It'd make me feel so much better knowing you were safe."

"Stop worrying, I'm fine," she demanded through gritted teeth. This conversation was going nowhere, "You promised Troy."

"I know I did," he dropped his head onto one of her pillows in frustration. He couldn't break a promise, but if he knew it would get this bad he never would have made it to begin with.

"And when was the last time you broke a promise?" Gabriella was going to make him feel terrible about even bringing this conversation up.

"Never," Troy grumbled, knowing that in the end she'd always be right.

"That's what I thought," she smiled, knowing he wasn't going to turn her in, "You can leave now."

"Not going to happen," he said, even though she was stubborn he was too. Leaving was not an option at this point.

"Ugh," shoving the covers off herself, she stood up knowing that she couldn't fall asleep while he was here, "Can I go shower now?"

"You don't need my permission."

"I was just asking, in case you were so obsessed you were going to follow me into the shower," she only half joked.

"Well I'm not," he said with frustration in his tone, "So go take a shower."

Watching her scurry away, he waited to hear the shower water start before going downstairs to grab some food. Looking through the cabinets, he realized that they didn't have much. Gabriella had turned into the designated grocery shopper while Maria was gone and obviously hadn't bought much. Settling on some Macaroni and Cheese, he began to boil some water on the stove. About five minutes after he had started, he heard a door open and heels clicking on the floor. Maria Montez walked into the kitchen and greeted Troy with a little surprise in her tone, "Oh, Troy, what are you doing here?"

"Visiting Gabriella is all," he smiled at his best friends mother, "Do you want some mac and cheese?"

"You know what, I think I'll take you up on that offer," she gave the younger male a smile, "Thanks. Is Gabriella eating too?"

Troy's smile fluttered off his face, "I don't know. I think she ate before I got here."

"Okay, I guess it's just us then," Maria said, completely oblivious about her daughter's current state.

Troy pondered for a moment why he was bothering to cover for Gabriella while Maria left to change out of her work clothes. He was doing too much for her already. Maybe there was a way he could go around the promise. By indirectly telling someone, he technically wouldn't be breaking their promise. That would still piss her off though. Risking this, would be risking their friendship.

* * *

Time went by without any change. Gabriella was still not eating and Troy was still frustrated. He found himself trying to spend the least amount of time possible with her. Still refusing to leave her house, he was getting extremely worried. It was only a matter of time before she'd have to leave her house, and who knew what would happen when that time came. He was afraid of her doing something she would regret later, blowing up on him or her mother was what he anticipated. Hopefully a time would arrive when Maria realized that something was wrong with Gabriella or his own mother would realize she hadn't come over in almost a month. Summer was flying by and Gabriella was wasting her time away.

Her attitude had been unbearable. There was no way to express how moody she'd been lately. All they did was argue. The amount of food she ate also was decreasing. It was almost impossible for her down more than one piece watermelon. To make matters worse, she had begun feeling constipated, which was a result of her lack of eating. Bloating had also made her feel even worse. The results of her lack of eating made her want to eat less. His least favorite moments were when he walk into her room and she'd be standing in front of a mirror and criticizing her body. Sometimes he wondered what she saw in the mirror when she looked at herself. All he saw was thin, pale skin and bones obtruding from her body. The sight petrified him, she was literally starving herself to death.

That day, Troy had skipped going to Gabriella's house. It was eleven at night and everyone in his family, excluding Matt, were asleep upstairs. Something in his gut regretted skipping her house that night, but he'd been de-stressing his body by playing basketball all night. It wasn't until the sun had set that he realized he forgot to bring her food. It wasn't really about the food anymore though, it was more just checking up on her. After realizing he had forgotten to go to her house, he'd decided it probably wasn't worth the trip over there. Maria was home and everything should be fine. It'd save yet another rift in their friendship and he had to admit that he was in a much better mood, not having the opportunity to fight with her that night.

As his phone began to vibrate in his pocket, he slid it out. It was Gabriella. Sifting through his two options, answering or not, he decided it may be easier to just tell her tomorrow that he had been sleeping. He hadn't been expecting her to call, he'd assumed she'd be relieved he hadn't been over to force her to eat.

Deciding it was in better judgment not to lie to his best friend, he brought the phone up to his ear, "Hey Ella."

"Troy?" Maria's worried voice flooded his ear.

"Oh, Maria, sorry I was expecting Gabriella," he could have sworn that Gabriella's cell phone number had shown up on the caller I.D.

"Are you sitting down Troy?" Maria questioned and Troy immediately knew something wasn't right.

"Yeah, I am. What's wrong?" Troy's heart sank, for some reason his gut told him she had to have done something when he didn't show up. For the first time, the word ran through his brain. Suicide. That was his biggest fear. She'd done something incredibly stupid and it was too late now.

"Gabriella, she's in the," Maria had a hard time completing her sentence, she felt like a failure of a mother, "In the hospital."

Feeling a little bit better, he breathed a sigh of semi-relief. Feeling the grief wash over him, he wiped an unexpected tear from his eye, "Is she okay?"

"Umm," Maria hesitated after finding out her daughter's physical state from a doctor, "I think she will be. You were the only person I could think to call Troy. I think she needs you."

"I'll be there as soon as possible," Taking a shaky breath he rose from his spot. This was his fault, he could have prevented this. He was so stupid, he'd risked Gabriella's health for the sake of their friendship, "Tell her I'm on my way."

"Troy, do me a favor," Maria started, the last thing she needed was an upset Troy driving himself to the hospital, "Wake someone up to drive you here. Your Mom or Dad, even Matt."

"Okay, I'll be right there," by the time he agreed he'd already arrived to his room. Regrets began flooding through his brain. They were at such a rocky point in their friendship yet he'd realized that he couldn't live without her. Feeling a pang in his, he realized that he had become extremely close to not being able to tell her how he'd really felt about her. There was so much he had to tell her about how amazing she was. Maybe if he'd done that earlier, they wouldn't be in this situation right now.

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**A/N: So, the pace of this story is going to slow down extreme amounts but only for a short time. Hope you enjoyed the chapter!**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Well, here's the next chapter.**

**Reviewers: WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO YOU ALL? WHERE DID YOU GO? I LOVED YOU GUYS! PLEASE, PLEASE, COME BACK!**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing**

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Troy frantically ran around his room. Changing into a pair of basketball shorts and a t-shirt for comfort. He quickly grabbed a duffle bag from the floor and went to his dresser to grab a pair of Gabriella's pajama shorts from 'her' drawer and one of his own Wildcat basketball sweatshirts for her to wear, knowing it was baggy enough for her to hide her skinny arms in. He made one last stop, shoving open his closet he began to shift through junk on the bottom of his closet. Finding the small lion mountain shaped stuffed animal Gabriella had bough him for Christmas a few years ago, he shoved that as the last item into the duffle bag.

Even though he wasn't driving, he grabbed his keys and wallet out of reflex before walking down to his parent's room. Shaking his mother gently he whisper yelled, "Mom. Mom, wake up."

One of the many things Troy didn't know about his father is that he was a light sleeper, "Troy, can't this wait until morning?" Obviously he hadn't seen the look of despair in his eyes, if he did he wouldn't have questioned him.

"Mom, come on. Gabriella's in the hospital and Maria said you need to drive me there," at the sound of that, Troy's father practically jumped out of bed and turned the light on.

"Troy, calm down," Lucille put her hand on her son's arm, "Give me two minutes to change out of my pajama's. I'll meet you in the car."

Troy let a tear drop from his eye, "Okay."

"It's going to be okay honey."

* * *

Arriving at the corridor of the hospital, Troy realized he had no idea where he was going. Walking in through large doors, he noticed a sitting area with a reception desk and off to his left was a cafeteria. His mother had taken out her cell phone and was apparently talking to Maria. Glancing at his duffle bag, he looked around at the people in the waiting room. They thought he was staying for a while. His mother nudged him, "Third floor."

Making his way toward the elevators in the back of the lobby, he pressed his palms over his eyes. Momentarily all he could think about was how stupid she was. He hadn't even fully realized he was in the elevator until it started moving and shook him out of his trance. His mother seemed to be in about as much distress as he was, but she had no clue what was going on. Upon arrival, he stepped out of the elevator and walked forward only to reach a reception desk. "Gabriella Mon-"

That was all Troy could get out before seeing Maria walking toward him. Stepping up to him, she leant forward and gave him a hug, "Do you want to go in? She's in room 306."

Troy simply nodded his head and left in the direction of her room, leaving behind his mother who seemed confused that somehow he knew what was happening. Time seemed to slow as he passed the even numbered rooms, 302, 304, before arriving upon 306.

The door was cracked open a bit, a sign that nurses and doctors were checking in on her every so often. Knocking on the door gently, he pushed it open without waiting for a response.

Gabriella turned her head in the direction of the door. It, her head, felt like it weighed a thousand pounds. At the sight of Troy she smiled weakly, "Hey."

"Hey," he wasn't sure what else to say. This was one of very few awkward moments they'd ever shared, "I, uh, brought you some stuff."

Reaching out for the bag in his hand, she was eager to open it and see what was inside. He was always prepared and this gesture had been extremely kind considering her mood toward him recently, "Thanks."

Troy nodded in response and glanced around for something to sit on, "You can pull that chair back over here, mom was using it earlier."

Sitting down next to the bed, he pressed the back of his hand to her cheek. He wasn't sure how to react around her currently, "Are you feeling okay?"

In that moment he realized what a stupid question that was, of course she wasn't okay. After all, she was in the hospital, "My head's a little sore, I hit it when I fainted."

"Oh," Troy nodded, not sure what to say as she opened the bag he brought her.

She shifted through the stuff, pajamas, sweatshirt, etc., but smiled as she found the stuffed animal at the bottom of his bag. Glancing at him in silent thanks she spoke again, "I'm sorry Troy, I really am."

"Gabriella," Troy started, not particularly wanting to talk about it right now, "We don't have to talk about it."

"Yes we do Troy," she began, knowing he was only saying that to prevent her from feeling worse, "I'm sorry, I'm such an idiot."

Troy shook his head and grasped her hand, "No you're not Ella, stop exaggerating."

"I'm sorry Troy, I'm so, so sorry," Gabriella felt the tears rise in her eyes once again. She'd cried too many times today.

"It can only go up from here Ella," he could feel his heart break at the look in her eyes, "You can get the help you need now."

"If I'd just listened to you I wouldn't be here now," Resting her head and closing her eyes, she leant her head back against the pillow. The effects of starvation were catching up with her body.

"Listen Ella," Troy got her attention by squeezing her hand, "I just want you to be safe, okay? The rest we can leave behind us."

"Promise?" Gabriella felt better knowing he could put this behind them for the time being.

"Promise," Looking over her body, he realized truly how skinny she was. The gown she was wearing did nothing to help the shape of her body, "I was so scared when your mom called me Ella. You have no idea."

"I'm sorry," she never intended to hurt him in this process. Sometimes that happened to the people you love though.

"Stop apologizing Ella," he demanded tiredly and partially annoyed, "I don't know what I'd do without you."

In that moment Gabriella only felt worse. Opening her eyes, she noticed Troy's eyes sweeping her body. Grazing her face, his eyes ran over her eyes then down to her nose and finally resting on her lips, "I want to try something Ella."

Pushing himself out of his chair, he bent over her. Softly pressing his lips to her own, his eyes fluttered closed and so did hers. Their lips barely pressed and the movement was miniscule. Before they knew it, the moment was over. Separating from her, he pulled back and stared into her eyes, "You okay?"

"Mmhmm," she mumbled, slightly disoriented. Many things had happened that night and for a quick second she wondered if she was dreaming. "Come here," she patted the spot on the bed next to her.

"I thought I might never get the chance to do that," Troy wasn't sure if he was talking specifically about that night or the general time span in which she had seemed to push him out of her life. Wrapping his arm around her, he squeezed gently.

"Mmm," she let his heat envelope her. It was cold in the hospital, or maybe it was because her body had minimal amounts of fat to help keep her warm. She had learned something in AP Biology after all.

Troy noticed she was beginning to doze off. Pressing a kiss to her forehead, he allowed her to fall asleep on his shoulder. Feeling relieved that she had reacted in a pleasant way, he waited for a few minutes before leaving her room and venturing back toward their mothers. Once he spotted his mother, he saw that Maria and his mother were deep in conversation and his own mother had tears running down her face.

"You okay?" She questioned him.

"Yeah, I'll be fine," He dug his hands deep in his pockets and looked at the ground. Now he felt ashamed that he hadn't told anyone about what happened. All of this could have been prevented.

"Did she tell you?" Maria was wary of saying much around him knowing that it was her daughter's decision to tell him what happened.

"She's, uh, she's anorexic, right?" His eyes remained pointed downwards at the shiny linoleum floor.

Maria nodded her and didn't respond vocally.

"You're not," Troy stuttered, now more than ever he didn't want her to leave, "You're not going to send her away, are you? She'd be a lot better here, trust me."

"No, I've discussed some options with the hospital's counselor and decided she should stay here," Watching the young man in front of her, she smiled slightly as he let out a long breath. At least she knew there was one person that knew what her daughter wanted.

"Do you want to stay a while longer Troy? Maria and I were talking and I think she should go home for a while to get some sleep and pick up some clothes for Gabriella but we don't want Gabriella to be alone," his mother asked him.

"Yeah, I don't want to leave," Troy shuffled his feet slightly, "She fell asleep."

"I was thinking I'd drive Maria," His mother noticed his furrowed eyebrows, "She rode here in the ambulance."

"Oh," Troy didn't know Gabriella had needed an ambulance, "Okay, I guess I'll see you in a little bit then."

"Here's some money," His mother handed him two en dollar bills, "In case you get hungry or something. Call me when you want me to come you, okay?"

"Yeah," Troy nodded and gave Maria and his mother a hug before heading back to Gabriella's room. Sitting down on the reclining squishy chair in the corner, he allowed his eyes to shut and began to feel his body relax into a sleep.

* * *

After an uncomfortable sleep at the hospital, Troy made his way into his house after his mother picked him up. Silently walking into the kitchen, he saw his father and older brother choking down pancakes.

"Well, well, well, look what we have here. Big party last night? Did Mom have to pick you up from jail?" Matt teased his brother, knowing that there was something wrong when he woke up and Troy hadn't even touched the covers of his bed.

Troy rolled his eyes and didn't respond as he grabbed his own pancakes. Stuffing them in his mouth, he wanted to leave the room as his brother spoke again, "What? You waiting for your punishment from Dad?"

"Knock it off Matt," Jack scolded from the countertop.

"Jeez, must have been really bad then," Matt commented but was taken aback as Troy stood from his seat and shoved his plate forward.

"Shut it Matt," and Troy left the room without saying anything else.

Lucille glared at Matt and followed Troy, knowing that at some point they were going to have to talk about what happened. Knocking on the door before entering, she saw Troy on his bed with his back facing the door. Sitting down next to him and placing a hand on his back, she spoke softly, "Are you okay Troy?"

"I'm tired," Troy tried to excuse himself from the conversation and get his mother to leave him alone.

"I know, but we need to talk at some point Troy," She knew he was rolling his eyes at her.

"Okay Mom, whatever you say," Agreeing with her would get him out of the conversation faster and allow him to have some alone time to process what exactly had happened.

Before leaving, he'd stayed and gotten a 'crash course' in eating disorders with Gabriella from her doctor. To put it simply, he'd set her healthy weight at 120 pounds. Currently she was ten percent below her healthy weight, at 108 pounds. Normally, that amount wasn't high enough for long term hospitalization but if it got to fifteen percent below her healthy weight, or 102 pounds, she would likely need to be hospitalized for a long period of time not only for the eating disorder but it was also very likely she would develop more critical conditions such as heart problems or organ failure. Currently she was dehydrated and they wanted her to stay in for two days to make sure she was set up with a counselor and dietitian and that her hydration levels were up. Slowly they were injecting nutrients into her body and she'd soon be able to feel the effects. They had her set up with six mini meals a day. Her electrolyte balance would be checked often and so would her status on dehydration. Therapy wise, she should start with individual, group, and family therapy, all which were a part of the 'program.' If her psychologist thought it was needed, then she would begin to take antidepressants. The mere thought of all this scared the shit out of him.

And then the kiss. What were they now? Gabriella was his best friend but was it something he'd done on impulse? Yes, it was but was it a good thing? She hadn't responded much before falling asleep. Maybe she was surprised. Did this leave them together? Was he free to kiss her now? Would he be able to call her his girlfriend?

All the questions would have to be answered another day.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Better late than never? Right? I'm really sorry.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything**

* * *

Gabriella weekly made her way made her way into her house after being gone for two days. She wasn't exactly sure how it happened, but she felt like shit. Actually she knew how it happened, but before she fainted she felt fine.

The stairs were a burden to climb. By the time she reached the top her muscles burned and her legs felt like they would collapse beneath her. Now was when she was regretting starving herself.

Her legs felt as though if she were to trip, they'd snap in half against the carpet covered wood of the stair case. They began to shake toward the last few steps. Her bony hands covered the railings, grasping them as if they'd prevent her from falling down the mountain she was attempting to climb. She kept nagging herself, if she would have listened to Troy, none of this would have happened.

Finally, when she reached the top, she had to stop and catch her breath. She was bent over slightly with her hands on her knees. Before she knew it 'Mother Hawk' was nagging her about it, "You okay?"

"I'm fine Mom," Gabriella groaned, half at her mother's nagging, half out of pain, "Just taking a little break."

"Go lay down and rest," Maria ordered. As if that wasn't where she was already going.

It took a few brave steps before she reached her bedroom and slammed the door with as much gustu as she could muster. She didn't bother changing before sliding the sheets over her cold body, she'd been wearing Troy's baggy sweatshirt and a pair of running shorts since she had been able to change out of the God awful hospital smock. She didn't even want to begin to think about how many people had worn it before her.

Gabriella felt better immediately in the comfort of her own sheets as they warmed her body in the cold air conditioned house. The fluffy pillows cushioned her head as she continued her sleep.

* * *

Troy didn't know what time he arrived or what time he fell asleep, all he knew was that it was well after midnight and since he collapsed onto her bed she hadn't woken up. Her face was relaxed, something he hadn't been able to enjoy looking at in a while. Her breathing was even, the only sign that there was actually life in the dormant body.

He hadn't intended to fall asleep for hours of time, shown by his jean clad legs and t-shirt covered abdomen. Standing from the bed in her room, where he'd slept in much too close proximity, he walked toward her balcony and pushed back the curtains shading the sun from coming in the room.

Before escaping for some fresh air, he paced his way to her dresser, using only the moon and his very vivid memory of the room as guidance. Troy dug through her drawers, knowing that she had to have something for him to change into, his clothes hadn't disappeared into thin air. Finally, he found some basketball shorts and knowing that she was sleeping and even if she was awake she wouldn't mind, stripped his jeans and slid on the shorts. Leaving his t-shirt behind, he paced his way back to the door and slid open the sliding glass after unlatching the lock.

Even though he knew the air conditioning was on, he left the door open to let some hot air escape in her room. With the minimal amount of fat she had to keep her warm, she could probably use the extra boost.

Over the tops of the houses, schools, and business centers, he could faintly see the Sandia mountains. The air was typical of the time, or the whole year, being hot and dry. Sometimes he swore you could almost taste the sand in your mouth. It was rare for it to rain at all during the summer, much less thunderstorm. However, it was somewhat comforting that the idea wasn't left behind with the occasionally nightly heat storms that produced faint lightning.

That's what he focused on, the faraway lightning, which seemed to strike the side of the mountain consistently. For a moment, he couldn't help but feel bad for the mountain. Trees would get struck and fried, dying in the process. Animals would loose their habitats. Then again, there was nothing he could do. Nature took it's own course, just like Gabriella.

He couldn't hear her approaching, he couldn't see her approaching, all he knew was that she appeared and wrapped her arms around him from behind, "You know, if I had a dollar for everytime I saw you shirtless."

"You'd be rich, I know," Troy finished for her with a chuckle. Gently, so gently that he wasn't even sure if it really happened, she kissed the back of his shoulder blade before dropping her arms from around him so that she could stand next to him and they could converse.

Troy reached out to grab her arm so that he could hold her hand before realizing that if he made a circle with his index finger and thumb, her arm could easily fit in it, "Gosh you're skinny Gabriella."

She didn't reply, just stood there frozen. Troy realized that his comment may not have been appropriate considering the past few days and continued down her arm and grabbed her hand.

He knew his hands were large, he could grasp a basketball after all, but Gabriella's seemed especially small. Maybe it was because he could feel the bones projecting from her fingers. They seemed cold so he rubbed his thumb over the surface.

"How long have you been here?" Gabriella asked.

Troy wasn't sure if she was referring to being outside or at her house, "I left my house around three and stopped at the gas station, then I came over here and fell asleep. I just came out here a few minutes ago."

Gabriella nodded her head, "It's pretty cool, that there can be lightning without a storm."

Troy took his turn nodding his head and remained silent. Gabriella squeezed his hand for the hell of it and he returned the gesture to let her know he was paying attention.

"I'm sorry for being an ass to you the past couple of weeks," Gabriella was beginning to realize her attitude had taken a turn for the worse.

"It's fine as long as you don't keep it up," Troy chuckled, "That's what you get when your best friend is a girl."

"I really am sorry though and there is no excuse for the things I said," her head drooped a little.

"Ten years and we've never really fought. It would have been against human nature if something didn't go wrong eventually," Troy attempted to make her feel a little better. Really, he just wanted to forget everything that happened and move on.

Silence wafted the air. A comfortable silence though. The silence that rests at night before you fall asleep, the silence after everyone finishes laughing at a joke, the silence that brings people closer together without realizing what's happening.

Troy let go of her hand, only to wrap one arm around her waist to pull her closer. Gabriella responded by wrapping both her arms around him in a hug. She stood on her tiptoes, which still didn't make her tall enough to be able to whisper in his ear, "Thank you Troy, for knowing what's best for me and being there when no one else was."

"Ella," Troy whispered and hugged her tighter, "You mean so much to me, you know that right?"

"I do and I won't ever take you for granted," She could feel Troy pushing her as close as possible.

He would even go as far as to say that he loved her, and he did. His arms that were bracing her against his body let go, his hands slid up her sides before his palms grazed her shoulders, running down her arms and back up, coasting over her neck until the came to a rest on her cheeks. Gabriella's head tilted to the right slightly, her eyes bolting into his.

Troy was the first to initiate it, but Gabriella followed milliseconds after. Their lips converged and the kiss was a light brush before Troy pulled away. He licked his lips at the way her eyes remained closed before tilting his head and going in for more. She was a damn good kisser he realized as she gently jutted her lip out as a sign for him to suck it in his own mouth before she pulled back for a quick breath of air. Not for long though, as her lips suctioned back on his, slightly open due to a combination of laziness and sensuality.

Troy felt his tongue drift into her mouth, grazing from one side to the other, the roof of her mouth to her tongue, and over her pearly white teeth. Gabriella's arms slid from resting on his shoulders, to around his neck, and finally she grasped his hair as he kept digging further in her mouth.

It was almost like she was high, that's how good it felt. She was feeling fairly confident until her knees buckled beneath her. Luckily Troy's arms were wrapped tight enough around her so that he could catch her before she fell.

Troy laughed and she blushed, "I'm sorry, I'm still a bit weak. You know," She didn't continue but laughed anyway.

Troy brushed two lost hair strands back toward her messy bun previous to delivering one more kiss, awkwardly smiling into at her own awkwardness, "If only it were raining, then this would be a real life Taylor Swift song."

"Oh this is so much better than a Taylor Swift song," Gabriella chortled lightly, "I'd even go as far to say a bad romcom."

"Ooh, very cheesy then," Troy poked at their special moment.

* * *

After their moment on the balcony Gabriella and Troy went back into her bedroom more awake then ever. That's what they got for sleeping over six hours. Instead of going back to sleep, they flicked on Gabriella's bedroom television, a treat Troy had never had of his own.

"Mom would hate this," Troy said about his parent's, who weren't the strictest of people but were stronger believers that televisions did not belong in the bedroom.

"I can see why," It was nearing one o'clock in the morning, "Who wants to watch an hour of 'Justin Beiber is Proactive?'"

"I know you want to Gabriella, don't deny it," Troy joked, "The first step to overcoming an addiction is admitting you have a problem."

"I don't have a problem," Gabriella went along with him, "I have Beiber fever."

Troy put his hand palm down against her forehead, "I should've known."

"You'd make a shitty doctor Troy," She shook her head.

Troy looked over at her, "Who are you and what have you done with my Ella?"

"Your Ella?" She questioned, "Since when am I one of your possessions?"

"Since you kissed me like that on your balcony," Troy smirked at her.

Gabriella gnawed at her lip, "So you liked it then."

Troy slid his butt closer to her side of the bed and nudged her foot with his. He whispered in her ear, "It made my toes curl it was so good."

"Good," Gabriella patted his stomach and nudged his shoulder with her head.

"I know you liked it," Troy's hand ventured to the underside of her knee, tickling it gently, "Weak knees."

Gabriella gasped and slapped his shoulder, "I just got out of the hospital. It had nothing to do with your kissing abilities."

Troy raised his eyebrows at her and she knew exactly what he was doing despite the darkness in the room.

Once again, he tugged for her hand, this time bringing it to his lips and kissing her palm. She finally settled on a movie that she'd hated the first time she saw it. After a few hours they fell asleep, the only parts of their bodies touching were their entwined fingers.

* * *

**A/N: Thank you so much to all who reviewed the last chapter. I was much more satisfied than with the previous chapter. Hopefully there's still people out there with an interest in this story who'll review. Thank you so much to anyone who does/did.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: I own nothing**

"Rise and shine sleepyheads!" Maria yanked back the shades, revealing the blinding sun.

Gabriella slid, startled, almost falling off the side of the bed, "Mother, what the heck was that for?"

"It's noon," Maria poked at Troy, hoping it would wake him, "And you two aren't up yet."

"He's not going to wake up," Gabriella glared at her mother, "And so what? It's summer. It's too hot to go outside anyway."

"So what?" Maria seemed to be overly cheery, "You are not going to waste your days sleeping."

"Please," Gabriella begged, "Just give us a few more minutes."

"Fine," Maria resisted the urge to roll her eyes, "I expect you, both of you actually, down stairs in a half an hour to eat."

Gabriella sat up and watched her mother leave the room, sighing out of frustration. Gabriella reciprocated the action before standing up to go put her hair in a ponytail, only to find her mirror gone. Sighing, she blindly yanked it up, it's not like it mattered anyway.

Sitting back down on the bed, she crossed her legs and sat next to Troy, facing him. "Troy, Troy, Troy, how on Earth am I going to wake you up?" She giggled, gently beginning to rub her hand up and down the middle of his chest, letting her nails scratch and tickle his stomach. It took a few seconds, but sure enough, Troy started to squirm from the feeling. She continued, deciding that if she stopped now he would continue his slumber.

"Good morning," Gabriella said softly, and much quieter than her mother had.

Troy groaned and rolled away from her and Gabriella gasped in response.

"Hey," She tugged him back over while laughing, "Come on now, you've had plenty of sleep."

"Never tell a man he's had enough sleep," He groggily grinned at her, "What time is it?"

"Seven after twelve," Gabriella glanced at her alarm clock, "Meaning we have twenty three minutes to get our asses down stairs to eat."

"Ella," Troy warned at her tone of voice, reminding her of an over protective father.

"It's not the eating," She stated and Troy looked at her with raised eyebrows, "It's not! It's mother hen."

"I thought this is what you wanted," Troy reminded, placing his hand on her knee to keep her attention.

"It is, but she's not even recognizing that she's been neglecting me!" Her eyes were everywhere but locked on Troy's.

"She's just trying to look out for you Ella," His thumb grazed over her knee, rubbing light circles.

"I know," Her voice was very low in pitch and hard to hear, "But it still hurts."

"Everything's going to work out," Troy soothed, "As long as you let it."

"Okay well, I'll grab you a sweatshirt," She walked to her dresser and looked at him, he hadn't used any sheets all night, "Or do you want a t-shirt?"

"Give me whatever you don't want," He responded, knowing there was certain clothing she preferred over others. He watched as she dug through, it wasn't much that she had of his but it must have been buried underneath other clothes of her own.

"Here," Gabriella tossed the shirt to him, he recognized it as the basketball t-shirt that he'd ordered freshman year along with the standard sweatpants and sweatshirt. Then she began walking toward the door.

Troy eyed her backside, "Where do you think you're going?"

"To the bathroom," She said over her shoulder.

"Wait," Troy shouted before she left through the door, holding his arms out, "Don't I get a good morning kiss?"

Gabriella smiled and lent against the doorframe, hiding her easily read face from him. Smirking, she glanced over her shoulder, "Maybe."

"What do you mean maybe," He shoved aside the covers and threw his shirt on to chase after her to the bathroom.

He caught up with her while she was brushing her teeth, "_Now _you're awake."

"Awake I am," Troy reached around her to grab the spare toothbrush that he'd kept there for many years now.

They stood there brushing their teeth, Gabriella finishing a little earlier than Troy. "Now, about that kiss…"

Gabriella took the hint and kicked the door behind her close, in case her mother made an appearance upstairs. Gently, she wrapped her arms around his neck and lent back against the door, so that he was towering over her. "Kiss me then," She winked up at him in a teasing voice.

Troy, as fast as he possibly could, quickly pecked her lips. Gabriella stared at him with wide eyes as he nudged her away from the door and walked back to her room.

"What the hell was that Troy?" She laughed, walking back to her bedroom and closing the door, "You were the one that-"

Before she could finish, Troy exited the room again, "Food awaits us." He stared at her with gaping eyes and clapped his hands at her, "Let's go. Go, go, go, go!"

"Oh my gosh Troy, I don't want-" Troy opened the door and went to stand behind her, gently pushing her toward the door.

"I don't want to hear it."

Gabriella planted her heels in the ground and crossed her arms like a child having a tantrum.

"C'mon Gabriella, do you hear that?" He pushed a little harder from behind her, but not too hard because he was still afraid that if he touched her, her bones would break, "That's the sound of a hungry boy trying to get his best friend to let him go eat. Let's go."

Gabriella laughed, "I don't want to go down there."

"Well it's going to happen sometime, whether it be voluntary or involuntary," He waited for a few seconds to see if she'd move, "What'll it be?"

She grumbled and shuffled her feet a little, "Voluntary."

"Good," Troy smiled and went to suggest she move out the door.

Troy walked behind her, to ensure she made it down the stairs and didn't bail on the way down. Her steps began to slow and she glanced at him over her shoulder. Troy nodded his head, "Go."

To assure her, he placed his hands on her waist, squeezing gently and encouragingly. "Smells good Maria," Troy commented as they walked in the kitchen and spotted two omelets sitting at the counter, "Are you eating with us too?"

"Nope," She brushed her hands together and wiped them on a hand towel, "Listen, Troy I was wondering if you wouldn't mind hanging around today here with Gabriella? Maybe even overnight again? My boss just called and is a little more than upset with my punctuality these past few days so I was planning on heading in to the office and then maybe grabbing cocktails with some potential clients afterward."

Troy's brain skipped a beat at her explanation and looked over at Gabriella, who was poking around at her omelet, looking at it with disgust, "Um, of course, no problem but actually I wasn't thinking an ome-"

"Okay, great then, I'll leave money for you two," Maria threw two twenties on the counter, "Feel free to go rent a movie or something. I'll see you two later."

Troy watched as Maria's heels clicked against the floor and she rushed out the garage door. Gabriella's mouth hung open slightly, "Bye."

Troy sighed, "I'm sorry El." He picked up her plate and shook the omelet from it onto his plate.

"No, it's," Gabriella sighed too, "It's not your problem."

"I'll grab you something else to eat," Troy glanced at her sympathetically, "You know, that's part of your meal plan."

"Thanks," She pulled her knees up to hug them close to her chest as Troy stood up and grabbed some berries, yogurt, orange juice, and a banana to throw into the blender and make a smoothie. While it was blending, he threw a slice of whole grain bread into the toaster.

"Wanna go to my house for a while?" Troy asked her, as she sat there looking depressed.

She nodded her head and didn't respond in any other way. Her head just lay on her shoulder.

"Hey," Troy tried positively, "Forget about it, we'll have fun by ourselves today, okay?"

"Mhm," Gabriella nodded, going along with it.

* * *

Lucille Bolton heard the noise of a door shutting, something that hadn't always been a welcomed noise, either signifying one of her young children were escaping outdoors or one of her older children were sneaking in after a night out partying. However, none of her children were home at the moment and she was hoping that it would be Troy arriving home.

To her luck it was.

"Troy, honey," She slightly scolded as she saw him enter with Gabriella, "You didn't call last night."

"Sorry, I just fell asleep," Troy attempted to explain.

"Just call me next time," Lucille glared to get her point across, "Okay?"

"Got it," Troy nodded his head and Lucille made her way to Gabriella.

"Are you doing any better sweetie?" Lucille opened her arms to give Gabriella a hug.

Gabriella gratefully accepted the offer Maria had yet to propose, "A little."

"I'll have to give your mother a call if you two are going to hang out here today," Lucille squeezed her son's best friend tightly, "Maybe we can grab some coffee or something."

Gabriella pulled back, "She went into work actually."

"Oh," Lucille looked a little confused, "Okay then, feel free to stay for however long you want."

"Thanks," Gabriella smiled and acknowledged Troy when he bumped her hip.

"Do you want to go downstairs?" He nodded his head toward the basement.

"Sure," Gabriella smiled at Lucille, "Thanks for having me."

"Sweetie," Lucille rolled her eyes, "You know you're welcome over any time."

Troy bounced down the stairs and Gabriella followed suit, glancing at the DVD's before plopping down on the couch, "Oh my gosh, we have to watch _A Cinderalla Story."_

Troy attempted to smile but couldn't quite pull it off, "Sure?"

"Oh you are so bad at hiding your feelings," Gabriella laughed at the almost pained expression on his face as she grabbed the DVD and sat in front of the player, waiting for it to open so that she could slide it in.

"Humph," Troy rolled his eyes, "It's not like that would be my first movie choice."

"Why do you even have this movie?" Gabriella held up the cover with a picture of Hilary Duff, "You do live in a household of boys."

"Mom loves it," Troy chuckled, "Do you remember, we saw that movie in the theaters on your twelfth birthday?"

"When you were the only boy that came?" Gabriella giggled and nodded her head, "And our moms tried to sneak in cool aid for us."

"I was so embarrassed," Troy remembered, "Mom made me go because she volunteered to chaperone."

"And the movie theater was so full that people were sitting in the aisles," Gabriella nodded her head.

Troy laughed, "I ended up sitting in between you and Jenny Freida. You two talked right over me the whole movie, like I wasn't even there."

Gabriella slid her feet by Troy's, gently lining up her heel with his, "You have big feet."

"Size thirteen," Troy moved his foot up and hers followed, "And proud of it."

"I am like a size six," Gabriella curled her toes where they lined up toward the ball of his foot, "Seven depending on the brand."

"No wonder you're so short," Troy joked.

"Hey now," Gabriella playfully scolded, "Be nice."

"I'll be nice when I feel like it," Troy stuck his tongue out at her.

Gabriella laughed and rolled her eyes playfully, "We'll see how far that gets you in life."

* * *

"Troy will you come up here for a second?" Lucille shouted down the stairs of the basement.

"I'll be right back," Troy pushed himself up from his spot opposite of Gabriella. He skipped up the steps to where his mother was standing in the kitchen, "What do you need Mom?"

"Is Gabriella staying for dinner?" Lucille wrapped her hair up in a ponytail as she began to boil some white rice over the stove.

"If that's okay with you, then yes," Troy gripped the edge of the counter.

Lucille began unwrapping some chicken and laying it in some spices, "Should I make her a plane piece of chicken then. I was planning on making some steamed vegetables too."

"Yeah," Troy thought of how the doctor had told them plain chicken or plain pasta was a good dinner idea, "But only give her half a piece, it's less overwhelming and not too much veggies."

"Okay," Lucille nodded her head and looked up at him, "You can go now."

Troy shuffled his feet back down the steps to the basement, where Gabriella retained her spot on the couch, "What was that all about."

He looked at her twisted body, covered with a blanket, "Mom is making you a plain chicken for dinner."

She quickly shuffled her body, "She doesn't have to go out of her way to make me a chicken if you guys are-"

"Ella," Troy chuckled, "Relax, Mom was making chicken anyway. She just won't put the seasoning on yours."

"Oh, okay," She covered back up with the cream colored blanket, "Thanks."

"Did you want to stay the night?" Troy slid his feet under the blanket as he sat back down opposite her.

"Sure," Gabriella confirmed.

* * *

"Troy you have dishes tonight," Matt smirked across the table.

"Yeah Troy," Mason tried to tease, "You have to do the dishes."

"Watch it Mason," Jack grumbled while shoveling food into his mouth, "I can always upgrade you from trash to toilets."

Mason dropped his fork and made a movement with his hands as though to say he zipped his lips.

"It's all good," Troy said, "I got extra help."

Gabriella laughed as Troy nudged her side, "Who said I'm going to help you?"

"Me," Troy stated and slid his left hand under the table and on her knee, squeezing it gently.

"You're lucky Bolton," Gabriella had long since put her fork down next to her plate. She could tell Lucille had eyed Troy to make sure she had eaten enough and he hadn't seemed to disagree, "That you have an amazing best friend like me."

The younger boys were the first to bring their plates over, followed by Lucille, Matt, and finally Jack. Gabriella remained at the table with Troy until everyone left. He wiped his mouth with a napkin and removed his hand from her knee before standing up and grabbing both his plate and hers.

Troy turned on the faucet and allowed the water to run over the first plate he picked up as Gabriella walked to his opposite side and opened the dishwasher, "You ate more than I anticipated."

"It's kind of hard not to eat when I've got your family watching me," She didn't say with a tone because it wasn't necessarily a bad thing, "Plus I was in a pretty good mood."

"Good," Troy continued brushing food off of plates into the disposal. They continued in silence, finishing after five minutes. Gabriella went to move out of the kitchen but Troy stopped her, "Hey, hold on for a second."

Gabriella jolted to a stop as Troy caught her waist by wrapping his arms around her, "What?"

"Nothing," Troy pulled her close so that he could feel her bony hipbones against his body. Pulling her into a tight hug, he bent down so that his head was close to her neck and she wrapped her arms around his neck.

Lucille stood watching from around the corner, she was going to grab herself a glass of water but decided against it after seeing her son and Gabriella still in the kitchen. She smiled softly and tucked her body behind a wall so that they wouldn't see her eavesdropping.

Troy's hand tilted her head up so that he could first kiss her cheek and second kiss her lips. It was gentle and sweet, quick and soft. After pulling away, Troy repeated his actions almost the exact same way, however making it a little longer than the previous one.

Lucille ducked away, letting them have their space and tell her whenever they felt the time was appropriate.

Gabriella felt his cold, clammy hands against her back where her shirt had slid up a little, "Oh my gosh that cold."

"What's cold?" Troy let go of her waist and lifted his hands up, placing them on her cheeks, "This?"

"Troy!" She exclaimed, jumping out of the way of his cold hands.

"Come back here," Troy reached out but she jumped of his way. He planned to trap her against the breakfast bar, which he succeeded with. Gabriella squirmed from his trap.

"Let me go," Gabriella giggled as Troy seemed to pull her in even closer.

Troy placed his lips over hers in a quick peck, "I haven't," He did it again, "Gotten a," and again, "True kiss," once more, "Since last night."

"That's your fault that you didn't manipulate your time this morning," Gabriella teased by pulling away as he tried to swoop in again.

"Please?" Troy begged and pursed his lips into a pout.

Gabriella pretended to contemplate her decision, "What's it worth?"

Troy scoffed, "What's it worth? A kiss from Troy Bolton, the hottest person at East High School."

"That's debatable," Gabriella giggled at the face he made at her.

"Why are you so mean to me?" Instead of his arms trapping her against the counter, he adjusted them so they were once again around her waist.

"I'm sorry," Gabriella faked innocence, "Is there anyway I can make it up to you?"

"I did have one thing in mind," Troy's mouth explored it's way over Gabriella's, gently running his tongue over her lips and into her mouth. Gabriella could feel her body weaken as he continued his search, not trying to dominate over her own tongue. It was a partnership, returned by both people.

"Mmm," Gabriella mumbled as he pulled away and dug her head into his chest, enjoying the way his chest moved with every breath he took and the way his arms tightened around her back. He kissed her forehead and began to rock back and forth.

"We should be careful," Troy whispered, "I have a feeling Dad and the rest of my brothers are going to come up for dessert soon."

Gabriella nodded and pulled away, grabbing Troy's hand, "Let's go see what you have that I can change into and wear as pajama's."

"Oh please," Troy rolled his eyes, "You're going to end up wearing my clothes."

"You don't know that," Gabriella chuckled.

"Oh yes I do," Troy nodded his head.

* * *

Sometime around ten P.M. Gabriella heard a knock on her bedroom door. She'd entered a while ago, after Troy had swiftly kissed her goodnight in a locked bathroom. She'd stayed awake for a while, deciding on reading the book she'd left on the bedside table a few days ago, "Come in."

Lucille opened the door and leaned against the frame, "Do you need anything sweetie?"

Gabriella shook her head, "No, thanks though."

"It's not a problem," Lucille took a few steps in the room and shut the door, "You sure have made this room your own."

Gabriella sat up, "I'm sorry."

"It's fine honey," Lucille sat down on the edge of the bed, "I called your Mom to let her know that you're staying the night."

"Thanks," Gabriella offered her a half smile, feeling as though Lucille was acting more like her mother than her actual mother.

"She went back to the office to write up some papers for a new client apparently," Lucille was catching on to the reason why Gabriella spent so much time at her house, "I'm going to try and track her down and steal lunch with her someday."

Gabriella nodded her head and half smiled.

"She is spending _way _too much time in that stuffy office," Lucille patted Gabriella's leg over the blankets covering her body, "I'll try and get her to take some time off for you, okay?"

Gabriella nodded, again, "Thanks."

"If you need anything," Lucille affirmed, "I'm right here, okay?"

Gabriella locked her eyes with Lucille, "Got it."

"Well," Lucille stood up from the bed and moved to give Gabriella a hug, "I have to go make sure Matt hasn't snuck out of the house yet."

Gabriella laughed and nodded her head, "Thanks Lucille, I really appreciate it."

"Anytime sweetie," Lucille tightened her grip around the sick girl, "Anytime."

* * *

**A/N: I didn't think I'd be writing so much this summer, but the weather has _sucked every single day. _It's been cold and rainy ever since I finished school.**

**I WAS SO SURPRISED BY THE AMOUNT OF REVIEWS I GOT ON THE LAST CHAPTER! REALLY! This story has kind of been my weak one but I'm so happy about all the reviews. THANK YOU SO MUCH!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: I own nothing**

"Eat it," Troy folded his arms over his chest, glaring at Gabriella across the table.

Gabriella sighed, pushing her peas around a slice of toast. Troy was frustrated and she knew. All the more reason not to eat, "I'm not hungry."

"We aren't leaving until you eat," He grumbled, "I don't care if you're hungry or not."

"Stop treating me like a two year old," She retaliated, pushing her plate away from her.

"Do you really want to be like this Gabriella?" Troy glared, "Don't you want to get better?"

"Of course I do," She stuck a pea with her fork, forcing it down her throat.

"Then you can't put up a fight with-"

"How's everything going up here?" Jack interrupted, walking in with three bags of McDonalds.

"Fine," Troy responded, watching as Gabriella bent her head over the plate, trying to control gagging from smell.

"Mind if we join you two?"

"Course not," Troy smirked across the table at Gabriella as Jack called for Mason and Liam to come to the table.

"Want some fries?" Jack held out the red container to Gabriella and Troy.

"No thank you," Gabriella tried to politely smile and keep her face from showing disgust as she calculated calories.

"Well," Jack gestured to the table as Mason and Liam sat down, "Eat up."

Troy reclined in his chair with a smirk, "You heard the man."

The eating, the counting, was torture. Food had turned into a complex equation of numbers and an incredible amount of acting. Everything was cut into fractions, caloric intake already ingrained in her brain. Chew the food exactly seven times, swallow, repeat until plate looks semi-empty. Not good enough. For anybody.

* * *

Her mother made it easy for her to skip meals. Too easy. If she wasn't home, she didn't have to eat. Take fruit from the refrigerator, blend it with some orange juice, dump down sink, and leave the dirty glass on the counter to make it look like she'd eaten. Easy as pie.

When Troy wasn't around of course. Which he almost always was.

And if he wasn't, he'd call. Not his best idea, but he always checked in after he'd caught her 'forgetting' to eat when nobody was around. Can't fool him.

Her first counseling appointment was later that day. Maria, had actually remembered. However, couldn't attend. No worries though, Lucille could take her. It's like she was trying to deny that there was a problem at bay.

Getting dressed was a whole other task. Tank tops were out, they exposed too much of her protruding collar bone and skinny arms. T-shirts were fine, as long as they were looser, not that any of her tops were particularly tight anymore. The long cardigans she could wrap herself in and the oversized sweatshirts she longed to wear were unacceptable in the hot summer desert heat. Shorts showed off every line and curve that her thighs made.

Shorts and a t-shirt would have to do for the day. There was no hiding in public places, especially the hospital.

She herd Lucille's quick honks and grabbed her purse, double checking for her insurance card. Sliding on some gladiator sandals, Gabriella hobbled out the door and through Lucille's SUV.

"Hey," Lucille greeted with a cheery smile.

"Hi," She tried to return politely.

"Long time no see," Lucille joked, lighting the mood.

It'd been a whopping two days since Gabriella had visited the Bolton household, she chuckled, "I know, what are the guys doing today?"

"I don't know," Lucille spared a wink for Gabriella, "And quite honestly I don't care. It's Jack's problem today."

"I'm glad I could improve your day then," Things flowed smoothly between them. Light banter she couldn't actually share with her mother.

"Are you nervous?" Lucille kept her eyes focused on the road in front of her as they exited the freeway.

Gabriella took a deep breath, "Yeah."

"Well, it'll be good to just go and get it over with."

"Mhm," Her eyes drifted out the window at the passing landscape.

Lucille's hand patted her own, "You'll be fine sweetie."

* * *

"So," A plump man clicked his tongue while flipping papers on a clipboard, "Gabriella? Is that correct."

"Um, yes," She picked at a torn nail and tried to keep her movement to a minimum on the squeaky couch she was sat on.

"Why don't you start by telling me a little bit about your family," He wrote something down on a paper. He had yet to make eye contact with her.

"I live with my mom," She responded coolly, taking note of the books lined across multiple bookshelves in the room, many of them with his name on the spine. Obviously this guy was more into his research than his actual patients.

"Hmm," The man clicked his tongue again, "And your father?"

"I don't really know," Gabriella wasn't sure where to look exactly, "He got out of jail a few years ago, haven't talked to him since."

"Okay, okay," Dr. Percy responded, clicking his damn tongue twice, "Has that been difficult?"

Her mouth wanted to drop, "Yes."

"Interesting," _Click, Click_. "And you've been having trouble eating?"

"If you want to call it that," The room was silent. Black, white, and grey. A clock ticked in the background.

"And when did this begin to onset?" He took a few notes, or rather made it look like he was taking notes.

"Toward the end of the school year," She sighed, resting her elbow on the arm of the couch and her head on her hand.

Click, click, "Interesting. Now, who knows about this struggle you're having?"

"Uh, my mom," She droned on, "My best friend, his family"

"Okay, okay," He sounded stressed already, "Any drug or alcohol abuse?"

Wasn't he supposed to know that already? From, like, medical records or something? "No," Even if she had, it's not like she'd tell the truth anyway.

"Interesting," Gabriella rolled her eyes, it seemed like she'd be hearing that word a lot, "And any history of medical problems? Kidney, liver, heart disease? Diabetes?"

"No," No, no, no, no, and no. She wanted to scream at him. Did she seriously have to put up with this guy twice a week for the indefinite future? This guy was supposed to be the one to change her perspective on how she perceived her body? And nurse her back into health? Oh no, she didn't think so.

She zoned out the rest of the appointment. None of the questions required more than a 'yes' or 'no.' When their time was up he handed her a slip of paper and she slid out the door without a farewell. It was hard to believe he was 'the best' in the area.

"How'd it go?" Lucille looked up from the small hand stitched future quilt squares she'd brought along.

Gabriella continued her zombie like motions, handing Lucille the slip of paper, "Can we get out of here?"

"Yeah, of course," She quickly stuck the sewing needle back into her mini embroidery box and stood up, glancing over the slip of paper. A prescription. Lucille reached out to squeeze Gabriella's shoulder and gave her back a little rub.

They climbed in the car and headed back toward the suburban area of town. Gabriella closed her eyes and rested her head against the window until she felt the car roll to a stop, "You want to grab some tea?"

"Sure," While they waited for her prescription, Lucille and her walked over to a small local coffee shop. She glanced over the menu as Lucille ordered a small coffee without whip cream.

"I'll have a Chamomile tea," Lucille paid and added a fruit cup into their order.

She popped open the lid and slid the cup to Gabriella, "Eat a few." Then stood up and walked to the counter where their drinks were waiting for them. She whispered a quiet thank you and set them down on the table.

"So, we probably need to find a new counselor, huh?" Lucille sipped her coffee and popped a grape in her mouth.

Gabriella nodded, watching steam float off the surface, "Yeah."

"I wanted to ask you something," Lucille tapped her white tipped nails against the table top, "And I'm not going to yell at you or lecture you or try to shove food down your throat, okay?"

"Okay."

"Do you eat when Troy's not around?"

"I-" Gabriella stammered, then sighed, then spoke, "Not really."

"So last night, this morning," Lucille glanced at her watch, it was mid afternoon, "You haven't eaten anything?"

Gabriella decided it was a good time to grab a slice of watermelon, she held it up with a smile and popped it in her mouth. She shook her head.

"When was the last time your mom was home?" Lucille pushed the whole fruit cup to her, "Finish it."

Gabriella nodded, served her right, "Last time I saw her? Probably two nights ago. She comes home though. I can tell."

"Gabi," Lucille kicked into her social worker mode, "This is more serious than I think you know it is."

"I just don't want to deal with it," She slid her arms down on the table, folded them, and rested her head on them.

"I know it's hard," Lucille reached across the table to pat her arm, "But neglect is one of the six types of abuse."

Gabriella took a deep breath, "I want it all to go away."

* * *

She chose a black dress for the occasion. It was knee length with straps that crossed in the back. Gabriella knew she'd be walking in late, but she would have rather skipped the food portion of the evening.

The Bolton's were known for their backyard bonfires. There were the annual ones, homecoming, homework burning, end of school year, and then there were the spontaneous ones. The one tonight was mainly composed of the basketball team and a few girls; one last hoo-ra before the few who left for college in early August.

She climbed in her recently abandoned car for the drive to the Bolton's. As she turned the keys, she took a moment to pray that the car would turn on. Consequently, she smiled when it began to purr.

It was a short drive to their house and a long walk through the kitchen. Lucille wouldn't let her our of the kitchen until she had some food in her stomach. She secretly liked the way Lucille forced her to eat. It made her feel taken care of.

It'd been a while by the time she actually made it to the backyard, not that anyone was planning on leaving anytime soon.

"Well, well, well," Matt tapped his can of Coca-Cola, "Look who it is."

Troy turned around to see Gabriella inches away from the back of his chair, "Hey."

"Hay is for horses," She messed with his hair and he rolled his eyes.

"Here," Troy stood from the chair, "Take a seat."

"Thanks," She relaxed in the Adirondack style chair, Troy plopped his butt on the armrest.

"I thought you weren't coming," Troy wrapped his arm around the back of the chair, letting his hand dangle in the air by Gabriella's face.

Gabriella shrugged and the people around them continued talking, "It's not like I had anything better to do tonight."

"I'm glad you came," Troy bent his head down by her ear, "You look good."

Gabriella nudged Troy, they were gaining Matt's attention, "Thanks."

"Gabriella, you want a s'more?" One of the ball players passed a bag of marshmallows toward her.

She passed the bag on to Troy who took one along with a fork to roast it with. He got to work, making small talk with the person on the other side of him while he roasted the marshmallow to a perfect golden brown.

"Hey Gabi," A girl two chairs down said to get her attention, "Nice dress."

"Thanks," She glanced down at her lap and grabbed Troy's Sprite from it position on the ground.

"Makes you look real skinny," She had the hand of a basketball player on her thigh, "Gotta get myself a good LBD. Does wonders to your body."

"Yep," Gabriella nodded her head as some curls fell to cover the sides of her face.

Troy tuned in to their conversation, "Want a bite?"

She stared at the concoction Troy held out to her and gave it a little smile, "Maybe just a small one."

Troy tightened his arm around her shoulder and squeezed her in closer so that her head was resting against his chest, "Just a small bite."

* * *

As people cleared out, including Matt, Gabriella had stuck around, mainly watching late night television with Lucille. After the last person left Troy snuck in and sat on one of the side chairs. Lucille paused the television, "I wanted to talk to you two about something."

Troy stiffened and fixed his posture in his chair.

"Nothing bad," Lucille clarified with a light giggle, she glanced at Troy, "Gabriella and I were talking when I took her to her appointment the other day." Troy nodded, "I've been a bit concerned about Gabriella having so much time alone at home, so I was thinking maybe she should stay here until things get patched up between them."

"No, no, no, no," Gabriella shook her head, "I can't do that."

"Ella," Troy sighed, "You practically live here already."

"I know you guys care about me but really, I can't."

"Just hear me out please," Lucille held her hand up in a stop motion, "I was only thinking for a week. You know how we used to do those family camping trips together? We're taking one in a week before Matt moves out. You can still until then, bring your mom with, and we'll try to fix some things."

"Lucille, I don't know," She gnawed on her lip, "Won't my Mom get mad?"

"I'll talk to her," Lucille stood from the couch, "You just need to be around a positive environment right now. I don't like the idea of you sitting around by yourself at home all day."

"As long as nobody else minds."

"I've already talked to Jack," She bent down and kissed Troy on the cheek, followed by Gabriella, "Now it's getting late so I'm going to bed. See you two in the morning." She pointed to Gabriella, "Especially you."

* * *

Gabriella could hear the music coming from his bedroom as she walked past it in the hallway. It wasn't excessively loud to the point that she could tell what it was until she got closer and pressed her ear to the door. His Coldplay playlist was on repeat.

She cracked open the door to say him laying back down on the floor, legs together, and arms tight at his side, palms facing the floor. His eyes were closed and his breathing shallow.

During their Freshman year of high school the sex education classes had gone under the criticism of some parents, leading to a school board dispute. So instead of their regular health classes, the school had hired some a young hippie to teach meditation on the mats in the wrestling room. Most of the students considered it nap time.

Troy had taken a liking to the class. Whatever the hell she'd taught them about listening to their blood flow through their body and visualization had actually helped in some way. Sometimes he'd turn up his music and make himself comfortable for twenty minutes before a big game or when he was up late studying for finals.

Gabriella sat and waited until the playlist came to an end. Her wet hair was beginning to dry and curl. When it did end, she waited until he became oriented again and coughed into her arm to gain his attention.

"I didn't even hear you come in," Troy kept his seat on the floor.

"Good," Water dripped from her hair and absorbed into the sheets covering the bed, "Can I ask you something?"

"Of course."

She tugged at a thin sheet, "That night that I fainted, how come you didn't come over."

Troy picked at the carpet on the floor, "I was mad at you."

"I know but," She stopped her sentence, "I still thought."

"Thought what?"

"I was waiting for you," Gabriella stared at her crossed legs.

"Gabriella," He ran a hand through his hair and rested his head on his palms, "Don't tell me that. It makes me feel like shit."

"I'm not trying to make you feel bad," Her hands traveled over the smooth sheets, "I just wanted to know."

"I don't understand it," He shook his head, "I don't understand how you can hate your body so much to the point where it's making you sick."

"I thought you gave up on me," She focused her eyes out the window on the sun beating down on the dry grass.

"I want to say I didn't," Shame covered Troy's face, "But I didn't know what to do anymore."

"I'm sorry," A tear trickled down her cheek, "I shouldn't have made you keep it a secret."

Troy shook his head, "I should've told somebody."

"It wasn't your problem to deal with though."

"Sometimes I look at you and see someone I don't know," He ran his hand through his hair again, "Everything's changed so much and I can't keep up, but some of it's good, right?"

"Some of it's very good," She smiled, pushing herself up from the and sitting back down next to him. Her cheek rested on his shoulder.

"Mmm," He wrapped his left arm around her back, squeezing her close. He kissed the top of her head, "I'll never give up on you."

**So it's been a while. I've had a little bit of a rough time lately and I feel myself opening blank pages to write and just staring at them. Since I hold this story so close to my heart, it's been pretty hard to write and convey what I want.**

**But anyway, I appreciate everyone who reviews. I've been getting great output on this story recently.**


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